


Mommy's Little Girl

by IllusionEvenstar



Category: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Genre: Adopted Children, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Child Murder, Dark, Gen, Jealousy, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Murder, Possessive Behavior, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 10:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12579320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionEvenstar/pseuds/IllusionEvenstar
Summary: "If he's programmed to love, won't he be able to hate?"Taken from the words of Monica's husband, another mechachild was sent out to a family, with terrible results!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am a great lover of A.I., and once I saw that there’s a fic column for this movie, I cracked my brains for ideas right away. My first and only A.I. fic, written in 2003, that takes place almost parallel to the events of the original movie. Again, forgive the grammar

            “Is Project Arlene complete?” Prof. Allen Hobby asked as he went into the construction lab.

            “Yes, Prof. Hobby. She is ready to be tested,” his colleague replied.

            “Good. Do we have a suitable candidate?” Prof. Hobby came near to his secretary who was clicking away in the computer. She nodded and double-clicked on an icon.

            “This one is suitable. His name is Paulo Santonio. He just worked here as a security guard and he and his wife are infertile. Chances are they won’t be able to have kids ever.”

            “He’s a perfect candidate. Bring him in and I’ll talk to him,” Prof. Hobby smiled. The secretary nodded and went out of the office to find Paulo.

            “Let’s hope this project won’t be lost again like David.”

                                                                        *

            “Isabella! Isabella! I have a surprise for you!”

            Isabella Santonio came to her husband’s call. He sounded terribly excited. Usually he would come home weary and quiet after a long day’s work at Cybertronics. When she came to the living room, her husband was waiting for her near the front door.

            “What is the matter, Paulo?” Isabella asked. It was really rare to see her husband who just got back from work in all smiles.

            “Isabella, this is wonderful,” Paulo said enthusiastically. “Stand there and don’t move. I have a surprise for you.”

            Paulo rushed to the front door and waved his hand at the heat-sensor. The door opened and revealed a little girl about not more than 10 years old. She had beautiful sparkling aquamarine eyes and her coffee-coloured hair reached her waist. She had rosy cheeks and a brilliant smile. She was a perfect little girl. She was beautiful beyond words, like a fairy that has just descended from the sky. She wore a pink nightgown decorated with little cloth roses.

            “Hello, my name is Arlene. Pleased to meet you,” the girl smiled her brilliant smile and walked towards her. Isabella was quite taken aback by Arlene. She touched her hair and cheeks and felt her hands. She looked into Arlene’s eyes in wonder. She was so adorable. She was everything a parent wants.

            “Isn’t she beautiful?” Paulo asked, his eyes shining with hope.

            “Can I talk to you for a second, Paulo?” Isabella gestured her husband to the room.

            Paulo obliged. He expected that his wife would scream at him or some sort. He tried to explain, “Now I know what you’re trying to say, but listen to me. She’s perfect. She’s beautiful. She…”

            His explanation was cut short by Isabella’s sudden hug. Isabella was in tears of joy, “She is beautiful, Paulo! She is the most beautiful child I have ever seen! Where did you get her? Which adoption agency did you go? How did you get an adoption like this so fast? The last time we applied for adoption, it took us six months to actually hear a rejection from them…”

            “She’s no ordinary child, Isabella. She is a robot. A mecha.”

            “A mecha? You mean a mecha-child? But…but she felt so real…!” There was a small sign of disappointment in her.

            “Yes, Isabella. The company I work for had made this prototype and gave her to us as a test subject. I heard that they have a boy version of it being tested by another family. I think he’s called David. Anyway, they knew about our condition and they chose us to be the test subject. Isn’t it great?”

            “Paulo, she is a robot. How can I have a robot as a child? What would people think?”

            “She’s no ordinary robot, Isabella. She is a mecha that can love. She is programmed to love people and she would definitely love us unconditionally, Isabella. Aren’t what all parents wanted, to be loved by their own children without the children asking for something in return?”

            “But Paulo, she is not real. I want to have a child who I can watch him/her grow up and have a career and go have a family and…”

            “It is temporary. If you don’t like it, you can just return her to Cybertronics, no questions asked. Besides, she will keep you company until we can get a real child. Arlene can be our new child’s playmate or a toy or some sort. We can throw her back to my company any time you want.”

            “Paulo, you make it sound like she is some kind of accessory! She is a child! A mecha-child, maybe, but still a child!”

            “Just think about it, OK, Isabella?” Paulo did a puppy-eyed pout which his wife loved the most. “Don’t do anything until you’re ready. If you are, you can activate her with this sequence of words they given me. Be very sure about this.”

            “…OK, Paulo. I’ll give it a try. I’ll see how it turns out before I activate her,” Isabella took the plastic folder and put it into her dresser. “She is…just…so real…”

                                                                        *

            That night, before bed, Arlene asked Isabella to dress her up. Isabella undressed her bellybutton shirt and jeans and put her on the nightgown she wore when they first met. She looked so much like an angel. Isabella’s heart couldn’t help melting for her.

            “Am I in need of sleep now?” Arlene asked.

            “Yes, Arlene. It’s late. You should get some rest,” Isabella replied.

            “But I can’t sleep. I’m not programmed to sleep. But I can be really quiet.” Arlene had that smile again. She was so loveable. Isabella sighed at upon seeing her. Slowly she stood up.

            “You wait here, Arlene. I have something for you.”

            “Alright, Isabella.”

            Isabella went into her closet and took out a tall and wide cylinder box from among her shoe boxes. She brought it to Arlene’s room and put it on the floor. Arlene responded by sitting down in front of the box.

            “I have a present for you,” Isabella said as she took out the content of the box. It was a huggable-sized stuff cat. It had every feature of a cat and almost looked like it too. Isabella fingered with the power switch on the cat’s butt and turned it on. The cat opened its yellow eyes and dwindled for a while before sitting upright.

            “This is Kitty. It used to belong to me when I was a kid and have been with me until I was too old to play with dolls anymore. It’s a Super Toy. Kitty, say hello to Arlene.”

            “Hello, Arlene,” Kitty greeted her in a teenage boy’s voice with the same Mexican accent Isabella and Paulo had.

            “Hello, Kitty,” Arlene greeted him back.

            “I’m going to be in bed,” Isabella said as she got up again, taking the box with her. “I’m quite tired. If you want company, you can talk to Kitty.”

            As she closed the door behind her and peeked through the rough stained glass of the door, she saw Arlene taking Kitty onto the bed and started a hushed conversation. She couldn’t help feeling dazzled at the way Arlene actually had fun talking the Super Toy.

            “She is so real…”


	2. Chapter 2

            Arlene has been in the Santonio family for about 2 weeks now. She had a curiosity about everything, and like David, she followed Isabella everywhere she goes, watching her every move, absorbing data on Isabella and tried to help out in the chores she was doing. And she always had that smile on her face that was so loveable, Isabella just couldn’t ignore.

            Later that night, after the Santonio couples were asleep, Arlene continued her normal routine of chit-chatting with Kitty.

            “Are there no other children in this house? Why is it always so quiet in here?”

            “Because Isabella couldn’t have children. Neither can Paulo. They were both not of the capacity to produce.”

            “Will they ever have children if their capacity were to be increased?”

            “Don’t be silly, Arlene. It is impossible for an orga to increase body capacity. They are not mechas like us. They are human, people of flesh and blood.”

            “I understand. It’s just that this house is too quiet.” Arlene shrugged as she climbed up to bed, taking Kitty with her.

            “It will not be quiet for long, I can tell you that,” Kitty said as he huddled himself in Arlene’s arms.

            “Why?” Arlene was curious.

            “Let’s just say you’ll be much better off letting things happen by themselves.”

                                                                        *

            Arlene stared at Isabella as she makes her hot chocolate. She stared really intently as Isabella scooped the chocolate powder into a small pot of boiling water and stirred it in a certain rhythm. She was absorbing data again, as usual.

            “It’s almost bedtime, Arlene. Why don’t you go and wait for me in your room?” Isabella said when her hot chocolate was done.

            “Can I stay here and watch you drink?” Arlene asked.

            “Why would you want to do that?”

            “Because you seemed lonely,” Arlene replied as she giggled gingerly, sending Isabella into smiles.

            “What’s so funny?”

            Arlene didn’t reply. She just giggled mysteriously. Her voices sounded like wind chimes—so soothing, so lovely yet it penetrates the heart and soul. Then, as suddenly as she started, she stopped giggling and looked at Isabella with her sparkling aquamarine eyes.

            “Alright,” Isabella said after a momentary silence, “you can sit with me and watch. Just don’t make me spill or anything.”

            “Yes, Isabella.”

            So as Isabella sipped her hot chocolate, Arlene sat beside her, watching her every move. Isabella held out her hand and pulled Arlene close to her chest, feeling the mecha-child’s body heat on her. Even for a mecha-child, Cybertronics did a great job in making her as realistic as possible, and that includes her body temperature. If she hadn’t known that Arlene was a mecha, she could’ve sworn that she was a real girl. They made her so life-like and so real that through time, Isabella began to think that she was really flesh and blood, and that she was her true daughter. She stroked Arlene’s hair that was soft as silk and gazed into her aquamarine eyes. She had fallen in love with this mecha-child.

            After she finished her chocolate, she brought Arlene to her room and changed her. As she tucked her to bed, Arlene suddenly responded, “Read to me.”

            Isabella was caught unexpected. She had always wanted to tuck children of her own into bed and read stories to them until they fall asleep, and now Arlene was actually giving her a chance to do so. She began to love Arlene even more.

            “Alright, Arlene,” Isabella said as she took out a book entitled ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. As she read to Arlene, Arlene listened intently to every word, and giggled at the funny noises Isabella made when she imitates the voices of the characters. When she finished reading, Arlene was staring in space. It was as if she had gone into a trance. Isabella assumed that this was the way mechas sleep and kissed her forehead before retiring back into her room. As soon as she left, Kitty climbed up to Arlene’s bed without Isabella’s knowing and chit-chatted silently with her.

            Isabella finally made her decision.

                                                                        *

            “Is this a game?” Arlene asked, her aquamarine eyes gazing at her intently.

            “Yes, well, sort of.”

            Isabella was holding the maroon plastic folder in her hand, staring at the form inside. She took it out slowly and followed the instructions written on the form. She laid her fingers on the activation button behind Arlene’s neck and asked, “Am I hurting you, Arlene?”

            “No, Isabella.”

            “I’m going to read some words and you have to listen to every word I say. Look into my eyes while I’m doing it. Can you do that, Arlene?”

            “Yes, Isabella.”

            She fingered on Arlene’s neck, trying to find the tiny bulge that is Arlene’s activation button. When she found it, she pressed it and started reading the sequence of words in the form.

            “Yogurt, metal, dolls, titanium, rabbit, sugar, spice, Mercedes, Arlene, Isabella. Arlene, Isabella.”

            A few seconds later, Arlene’s smile faded into a look of surprise. Her mechanism was slowly activating itself. Isabella put her hand down and looked at the form, hoping that she didn’t do anything wrong with reading the sequence of words. When she tried to contemplate if she has made a mistake, she heard Arlene’s tiny voice calling her.

            “Mama? Mama…”

            Isabella looked up and gasped. Arlene was staring at her with a pair of aquamarine eyes full of…love?

            “What did you just call me?” Isabella was close to tears of joy.

            “Mama,” Arlene repeated herself.

            “Oh, Arlene…” Isabella held out her arms to hold her. Arlene immediately got off her chair and held Isabella tight.

            “I love you, Mama…”


	3. Chapter 3

            For months, Paulo and Isabella Santonio had a great time with Arlene. They went out quite a lot to show off their new child in the family to the public. Of course, they didn’t reveal her true identity, and they didn’t want to bother about the details either. To them, Arlene was a great kid and a lovely angel, a pride and joy to the Santonio family.

            Although Arlene couldn’t eat, she loved sitting at the table watching the Santonios eat. She would be fascinated by the variety of dishes she see at every meal. Sometimes it would be mash potatoes and gravy with grilled chicken, sometimes it would be steamed fish, sometimes it would be pasta or lasagna and other times there would be mushroom soup. Isabella has done a great job of being a housewife.

            But somehow, people found out about Arlene. There was one time when Paulo and Isabella were invited to Paulo’s cousin’s wedding, and of course, they brought Arlene along to show her off to their relatives. They dressed her up real nice for this occasion. At the wedding, everyone was marveled by Arlene’s angelic beauty.

            “She is so beautiful!”

            “I just love her hair. And her eyes, oh! They are so sparklingly pretty!”

            “She’s such an angel!”

            “Where did you get her? She’s adorable!”

            “You wouldn’t mind if I kidnap her now, would you?”

            All the grown-ups were impressed at Arlene, and the Santonios were even prouder. But the children were not impressed. They came up to her when the grown-ups were not looking and asked, “Where do you come from?”

            “I come from my home, from my Mama,” Arlene replied in an as-a-matter-of-fact way.

            “No,” one of the boys said. “I mean which adoption agency did you come from?”

            “I don’t remember.”

            “Do you have a birthday?” A girl asked.

            “No, not that I recall.”

            “OK, at the orphanage, when do you celebrate your birthday?” Another boy asked.

            “I don’t know.”

            “Then what is it that you do know?” Another girl asked exasperatedly. “What is it that you _do_ remember?”

            “Well…a bird. Like a peacock or some sort,” Arlene replied, stretching out her arms to show what she meant.

            “Does it look something like this?” the first boy asked as he showed her a work pass with the Cybertronics logo on it. Arlene nodded. Suddenly all the kids gasped and backed away from Arlene.

            “Mom, she’s not an ordinary girl! She’s a robot! A mecha! She’s from Cybertronics!” the first boy exclaimed as he rushed towards his mother.

            “Don’t be silly, boy. She’s a nice little girl just like you kids,” the mother coaxed him. The Santonios were beginning to worry a little. “If she’s a robot, she wouldn’t feel this.”

            To prove her point, the mother took a fork and poked Arlene’s hand. Arlene gasped and ran behind Isabella, clutching her sleeve tight, muttering, “Keep me safe, Mama. Keep me safe, Mama. Keep me safe…”

            “That’s because she has DAS,” another girl said. “My Daddy works at Cybertronics and he said all mechas are equipped with DAS!”

            “Don’t be ridiculous, sweetheart,” her mother said. “Why would they want to equip a little girl with DAS? Ignore them, Isabella. She’s a bit obsessed with mechas lately, no thanks to her father.”

            The grown-ups laughed, including the Santonios, who were getting a little nervous. They had to look for an excuse to get out of there before everything got worse.

            “Then why doesn’t she eat like the rest of us?” Another boy said as he took a piece of the wedding cake. “If she really is an orga, she can eat this!”

            “Oh, kids!” the mother said exasperatedly. “Humour my son, Arlene. Eat the cake. That’ll slow down his imagination.”

            Arlene looked at the other kids who were stuffing cake and drinks into their mouths, then at the Santonios and then back at the cake the boy held out for her. She came out from behind Isabella and took the cake.

            “Can she eat?” Isabella asked Paulo, worried.

            “I don’t know,” Paulo shrugged.

            Arlene took a bite from the cake without hesitation. It turned out alright at first, but after she finished the cake, something horrible happened. Her face started to slant on the right side. The skin began to sag until it exposed a little of the metallic mainframe of her face (just like what happened to David). Not only that, the skin of her fingers that touched the cake became loose and was sagging from the mainframe of her hand. Isabella shrieked and rolled up Arlene’s sleeve and was horrified to see the skin of her shoulder peeling off from the metal socket.

            The Santonios quickly rushed her out of the house and towards Cybertronics before their relatives become more horrified and start asking them questions.

                                                                        *

            “Arlene, you’ve been a bad girl. Food is meant for orga, not mechas like you.”

            The scientists has opened up Arlene’s stomach and taken out the components, washing away the cream and cake off them. Isabella held Arlene’s hand dearly.

            “Will she be alright?” Isabella asked, worried.

            “She’ll be perfectly fine. We just have to clean this mess up and fix her arm and face and everything will be a-OK,” one of the scientists grinned as he continued washing the components. “We had a similar case on David, but your Arlene is much serious. Maybe it’s because of the enzymes of the cake that disrupted the cords and functions of her arm, but she’ll be alright. Don’t you worry a thing.”

            “Yeah, Isabella. You shouldn’t worry about Arlene. She’s just a mecha, she won’t go wrong…” Paulo tried to coax Isabella but was shot back with an angry glare.

            “Just a mecha? _Just a mecha_? Paulo, she is a child! Our child! Our little girl! You cannot just treat her like some accessory! You brought her in, then you have to have responsibility over her too. She is Arlene, our child!”

            “OK, OK. I get the point, Isabella. I will not treat her like an accessory again. I promise,” Paulo held up his hands in surrender.

            “It’s OK, Mama,” Arlene said, her aquamarine eyes looking at her. “I don’t feel anything, really.”

            “I know, Arlene. I know that,” Isabella smiled at Arlene. Arlene smiled back.

            “I love you, Mama.”

            “I love you too.”

                                                                        *

            Isabella rushed to the toilet to puke again. It was the 5th time this morning and she has been doing that for the past 2 months. Arlene was worried. As Isabella had her head buried in the toilet bowl, Arlene responded by going up to her and thumped her back.

            “I’m alright, Arlene. There’s nothing to worry about,” Isabella said weakly.

            “Shall I call a doctor, Mama?” Arlene was still worried.

            “No, thanks, Arlene,” Isabella replied after puking for a few moments. She then looked up, caught her breath and said, “Arlene, do Mama a favour and get that rectangular box in Mama’s dresser. The one with red and blue stripes.”

            “OK, Mama,” Arlene replied and dashed towards Isabella’s room. She rummaged through her dresser and found the rectangular box. When she turned around, she saw Kitty standing at the door.

            “What happened to Mama?” Kitty asked.

            “I don’t know, Kitty, but she asked me to get her this,” Arlene said as she showed Kitty the box. Kitty took the box and had a look. He widened his eyes and passed it back to Arlene with a silent sigh. Arlene noticed it at first but she was too worried about her Mama to ask him questions. She rushed towards Isabella and handed her the box.

            “Be a sweetie and go play with Kitty. Mama need some time alone, OK?” Isabella stroked Arlene’s coffee-coloured hair and closed the toilet door behind her. Arlene stood in front of the door for a few moments before walking towards her own room to be with Kitty.

            “What do you think happened to Mama?” Arlene asked as she picked the stuffed cat up.

            “Something that was thought wouldn’t happen,” Kitty replied, mending his tail that was a little torn.

            “And what is that, Kitty?”

            “You’ll see.”

            Soon Arlene heard Isabella coming out of the toilet. She took a peek and saw that Isabella was all smiles. She dashed to the phone and made a call. From Arlene’s data in her brain, she noticed that she was making a phone call to Paulo.

            Later that evening, Paulo came back home again in all smiles as he hugged Isabella happily. Both of them almost cried happy tears as they laughed and thanked God. Arlene was quite ignored throughout their joyous discussion.

            “This calls for a celebration!” Paulo exclaimed enthusiastically. “Isabella, Arlene, put on your best dresses! We’re eating out tonight at the most expensive restaurant!”

            Isabella giggled as she ushered Arlene upstairs to change. As Isabella looked at Arlene’s cupboard to choose a nice dress for her to wear, Arlene asked, “Mama, why is Paulo so happy? Why is everyone so happy?”

            “I’m sorry, Arlene,” Isabella laughed apologetically and took Arlene’s hands. “I got so excited that I forgot to tell you this news.”

            “Tell me what news, Mama?”

            “Well, first I want you to remember that no matter what happens, you are still my little girl.”

            “Yes, Mama. I know that,” Arlene replied with her sparkling eyes staring back at her.

            “You know about Mama being lonely before you came here?”

            “Yes, Mama.”

            “From now on, Mama will never be alone again. I will be entertained every single day by you and the new baby.”

            Kitty muttered an ‘Uh-oh’ and climbed behind Arlene’s bed.

            “New baby? Mama…?”

            “Yes, Arlene, Mama’s pregnant. You’re gonna have a new brother or sister.”


	4. Chapter 4

            Isabella was down to her 5th month in her pregnancy. Arlene helped her out in any way she could, from doing the dishes to preparing her hot chocolate just the way she liked it. Slowly she found herself doing all the chores in the house. She didn’t mind. Anything for her dear Mama.

            One day, when Arlene was doing the dishes, she accidentally dropped one of Isabella’s best china. It fell onto the marble floor before Arlene was able to catch it and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Needless to say, Isabella went into one of her mood swings and yelled at her profusely for ruining her china. Arlene was quite taken aback by her sudden outburst that she didn’t know what to say to pacify her.

            Another time, Isabella complained (in one of her mood swings) that Arlene smelled weird. Arlene was surprised because she knew she couldn’t sweat or anything. But to please her Mama, she looked everywhere for something to get rid of the alleged ‘smell’. Soon she found Isabella’s perfume on her dresser and emptied it of its contents to make herself smell better. Unfortunately, her method was pretty ludicrous and Isabella flipped her gourd when she found out about it. She scolded her loudly, “How could you waste out all my perfume?! This is Mama’s favourite perfume and you finished it!! It’s very expensive, don’t you know that?!”

            “I…I just wanted to make you happy, Mama,” Arlene tried to explain herself. “You said that I smelt weird, so I…”

            “Do you have to do _exactly_ everything I say?! If I told you to jump off the cliff, would you do that?! Are you loco?”

            “I’m sorry, Mama, I’m really sorry…”

            Isabella’s slap on her cheek stopped Arlene in her words. Arlene widened her eyes in shock as she stared in disbelief at Isabella. ‘Why did she slap me?’ she thought. ‘Why did she hurt me?’

            Isabella realized what she had done and apologized, “I’m sorry, Arlene. Mama’s really sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I’m sorry…”

            She held out her hands to hug her, but Arlene retreated back to her room in a flash. She locked the door behind her and rushed to hug Kitty, mumbling, “Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe…”

            “What’s going on, Arlene? What happened?” Kitty asked in surprise.

            “Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe…” Arlene continued to mumble, ignoring Isabella’s apologizes outside her room.

            “You are safe, Arlene. You are safe. Tell me what happened. Did Mama hurt you?”

            “Mama hit me. Why did she hit me? I just want to make her happy,” Arlene was close to tears.

            “It’s her mood swings. It’s not her fault. She couldn’t help being angry. She’s not in the state to control her feelings.”

            “Why? What’s going on with Mama?” Arlene asked.

            “She’s having a baby, Arlene. You know that. She is having a little bit of pressure. It’ll go away soon. Once the baby’s born, she’ll be alright.” Kitty replied kindly. “I’ve seen that happen before to Isabella’s mama.”

            “You mean if Mama gives birth to the baby, she’ll stop being so suddenly angry?”

            “I guess,” Kitty replied.

                                                                        *

            Isabella couldn’t help feeling guilty towards being angry over a measly little bottle of perfume. She never hit Arlene before and she didn’t expect herself to do so. She was quite afraid at how her mood swings got her into. After all, this was her first pregnancy she had ever had.

            So, to compensate on her sudden outburst, she took Arlene and Kitty out on a boat ride at a nearby park. They had a great day at the lake and laughed and joked as they had there picnic on the boat. Moments later, Arlene noticed a dragonfly on the water. She was fascinated at the colour of the dragonfly and at the way it didn’t even sink when it stood on water that she wanted to catch it and have a good look at it.

            She didn’t realize that she was standing on the boat, making it rock from side to side. Isabella told her to sit down but she was too engrossed in getting the dragonfly. She wanted to impress both her and her Mama by catching the insect so much that it took her a while to notice that she and Isabella was falling into the deep lake. Arlene and Kitty was sinking quite fast down to the water and saw, while she was sinking, Isabella struggling to stay above the water. Surprisingly, Arlene didn’t attempt to swim towards her and help her. She just continued letting herself sink into the depths of the lake below until she felt arms pulling her up to shore…

            When her eyes came into focus, she found herself on a white bed in a hospital, holding Kitty by her side. She got off the bed slowly and walked out of the ward, looking for her Mama. She saw Paulo at the counter asking for Isabella’s room. Paulo noticed her and asked, “Hey, Arlene. Are you OK?”

            “Yes, Paulo. Where is Mama?” Arlene asked.

            “That’s what I’m looking for. Come, follow me.”

            So saying, he took her hand and led her to Room 77. There, a doctor was treating her.

            “How is she? How’s the baby?” Paulo asked worriedly.

            “Both the mother and child are fine, but I have to keep her here for a day or two, just to make sure,” the doctor replied before leaving the room.

            “I’m sorry, Mama, I didn’t mean to…” Arlene leaned near Isabella’s bed, begging for forgiveness with her ever sparkling aquamarine eyes.

            “It’s alright, Arlene. It was an accident,” Isabella smiled weakly as she stroked her coffee-coloured hair.

            “Do you need anything to drink, Mama?”

            “No, sweetie, but you can help your Papa get a cup of coffee, OK?”

            “OK, Mama,” Arlene smiled and left to the vending machine to get Paulo his coffee.

            “You can swim, Arlene. You are programmed to swim. You know that,” Kitty said quietly to Arlene as she poured the coffee into the plastic cup. “Why didn’t you swim up to save Mama?”

            “I just want her baby to be born faster…so that she won’t be angry anymore.”


	5. Chapter 5

            After the almost-drowning incident, Isabella was warned by her husband not to go out unless it is really, really important. Isabella tried to occupy herself by knitting clothes and sewing a quilt for the baby. Arlene sat and watched as she did it. Soon she found herself helping Isabella out by knitting tiny socks for Isabella.

            “What do you hope this baby will be, Arlene? A boy or a girl?” Isabella asked while she sewed the rose pattern on one of the column of the quilt.

            “I hope it would be a boy,” Arlene said, smiling her ever sweet smile. “What do you think, Kitty?”

            “A boy too,” Kitty replied, mending his own torn foot.

            “That makes 3 against one,” Isabella chuckled. “Your Papa wanted a girl…Oh!”

            “What is it, Mama?” Arlene asked, stopping her knitting.

            “Your little sibling just kicked. You want to feel it?”

            Arlene nodded and went near Isabella’s bulging tummy. The baby kicked again, sending Arlene into all smiles. She stroked Isabella’s tummy and asked, “Mama, will you still love me?”

            “Of course I will, silly!” Isabella laughed gingerly as she stroked Arlene’s coffee-coloured hair. “Why do you ask?”

            “Nothing, Mama. It’s just that you often get upset when I do wrong stuff and…”

            “I feel bad about that too. It’s my first time with all these things. I hope you can bear with me, Arlene.”

            “I will, Mama,” Arlene kissed Isabella’s cheek and hugged her lovingly.

            “You will always be my little girl, no matter what.”

            “I love you, Mama.”

                                                                                    *

            Isabella was cleaning up Arlene’s room, taking out most of the toys she had for her. She put them all in a box and hollered for Arlene.

            “Arlene! Come and help Mama with this stuff!”

            Arlene appeared with Kitty in her arms and was quite surprised to see her toys all stacked up in the box.

            “Mama, what are you doing with my toys?”

            “I’m going to put them in the nursery room for the baby. I know most of these toys are for girls, but they can still be played with. Your baby sibling won’t really know the difference.”

            “Mama, these are my toys. You gave them to me because I’m your little girl,” Arlene tried to protest but was stopped firmly by Isabella.

            “Now, Arlene, you have to leave some space for your baby sibling too. Besides, you have Kitty with you and he’s a Super Toy, and Mama’s not taking all of your toys, just some that you might not need. These toys look better when your baby sibling is playing it, OK, sweetie?”

            “But…”

            “No ‘buts’ and no more arguments, or else I’ll be very unhappy. Is that clear, young lady?”

            Arlene nodded without a word as she helped Isabella carry the box of toys into the nursery room. It was the nursery room Isabella and Arlene, with a little help from Paulo, spent days decorating. It was what every baby dreamed of having. The colour of the curtains were soft and soothing to the touch, the cot nicely equipped with an auto-rocking motion, pretty dolls everywhere and a new Super Toy sitting in the cot waiting and ready to be turned on anytime. Arlene looked around the nursery and stood there and watched as Isabella arranged the toys neatly at its places. She saw the look on Isabella’s face as she planned and made everything right. It had those same loving eyes she came to recognize ever since she was activated, but they looked slightly different.

            Those eyes were reserved for the baby.

                                                                                    *

            Isabella got up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. Paulo was working night-shift tonight, so it was only her and Arlene in the house. She moved cautiously out of bed and wore her furry slippers. Winter was quite cold at this time of year—not even the heater was hot enough to counter the cold.

            She walked down the stairs. Her very pregnant belly was making her move quite slowly. As she was almost down to her last three steps, she suddenly stepped on something slippery. She lost her grip and slipped, falling heavily onto the floor. Painfully, she tried to get up but gasped in horror when her 6-month-old belly was beginning to twinge in pain. The pain gradually became stronger and more extreme. She began to burst in tears when she saw blood flowing out between her legs.

            “Arlene! Arlene, help me! Please help me, oh my God, please! Help me~!!”

            Unknown to her, Arlene was just upstairs, sitting out of sight and peeping from the banisters. She just sat there without moving an inch, watching Isabella as she lay on the marble floor, clutching her stomach hard and crying, more blood flowing out of her. She made no attempt to go downstairs to Isabella’s aid or rush to the telephone to call for an ambulance. She just sat there and watched, her aquamarine eyes sparkled like jewels in the night.

            “Mama is in trouble. Hurry up and help her,” Kitty urged as he tugged at Arlene’s nightgown.

            “Later,” Arlene replied shortly, her face creasing into a tiny smile.


	6. Chapter 6

            Isabella was rushed into the ER immediately. The doctor treating Isabella told Arlene to call Paulo before rushing into the ER with the other doctors and nurses. Arlene didn’t do it immediately as she was told. She walked around the area like a lost kid for a little while and watched the patients, doctors, nurses and attendants go by before walking casually towards the counter to borrow the phone to call Paulo.

            Paulo came within 10 minutes or so. He propped Arlene on his knees and waited anxiously for the results. Things were pretty hectic in the ER. With the doctors’ instructions and the nurses’ encouragement, Isabella pushed her baby out into the world while breathing heavily through the oxygen mask. As soon as the baby was born, the doctors quickly put in the oxygen mask for the baby and warmed it by rubbing it gently with clean white towels. They put the baby into the incubator and then tended to Isabella.

            “Doctor…how’s my baby…?” Isabella asked weakly.

            “She’s alright, Mrs. Santonio. She may have to be in the incubator for a while but she’ll be fine, don’t worry,” the doctor replied kindly. “Congratulations, you have a baby girl.”

            Isabella burst into tears of joy when she saw her little premature baby doing perfectly well in the incubator. The doctor allowed her to touch the little baby before taking her to the nursery. Paulo was informed about the good news and he was thrilled. He laughed aloud as he held Arlene and Kitty high in the air.

            “This is so great! You have a baby sister! Isn’t it great?!”

            “Yes, Paulo, it is great,” Arlene smiled through her aquamarine eyes innocently.

            “Come, let’s go see your Mama,” Paulo said as he carried Arlene in his arms towards Isabella’s room.

            In her room, Isabella was sleeping. Paulo hushed Arlene and walked in quietly, trying not to make a sound. They sat as soundlessly as possible beside her bed—they didn’t want to wake her—but in the end she still opened her eyes, smiling as she said, “I’ve already awaken a long time.”

            “Congratulations, Mrs. Santonio,” Paulo said playfully as he pinched Isabella’s nose.

            “Congratulations to you too, Mr. Santonio,” Isabella grinned as she pinched him back.

            “Where is the baby?”

            “She’s being taken care of by the nurse. They’ll bring her in tomorrow.”

            “How did you fall down? Arlene told me she found you at the bottom of the stairs and…”

            “I must’ve lost my footing or some sort. We just waxed the stairs a few days ago. It’s still quite slippery.”

            “You had me worried there, Isabella,” Paulo said as he stroked his wife’s hair. “If it weren’t for Arlene, I wouldn’t know you were in trouble.”

            “At least I’m OK, thanks to Arlene,” Isabella smiled gratefully at her little mecha-child. “And the baby’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing more to worry about.”

            “You rest, OK? I’ll come back tomorrow,” Paulo kissed Isabella and got ready to leave. “Arlene, say goodbye to Mama. We’ll come visit her tomorrow.”

            “Bye, Mama,” Arlene kissed her cheek. Isabella kissed her back.

            “Bye. And thank you.”

            Arlene smiled as she took Paulo’s hand and left. Paulo walked into the nursery, taking Arlene with him, looking for his daughter. Finally he saw her in one of the incubator bearing the tag of Mr. and Mrs. Santonio. The nurse who was taking care of the baby greeted him in a friendly matter.

            “She is a real fighter, isn’t she, Mr. Santonio?”

            “Yes, she is. Just like her mother,” Paulo replied as he stared lovingly at his own daughter in the incubator.

            “And this must be her big sister?” the nurse stroked Arlene’s coffee-coloured hair. Arlene smiled and nodded. “What is your name, little girl?”

            “Arlene. Arlene Santonio.”

            “She’s beautiful! And a heroine too for helping out her mother. You’re going to be a big sister now, and you’ll be more than a great hero to your little sister sooner or later,” the nurse complimented on Arlene before turning to Paulo. “Mr. Santonio, I believe your baby needs a name.”

            “Yes, yes, of course,” Paulo replied. “What do you think we’ll name her, Arlene?”

            “I don’t know. She’s like an angel, I can’t decide,” Arlene replied innocently, her eyes staring blankly at the baby.

            “That’s it! Angela! An angel with an ‘A’ at the back. She will be called Angela Santonio! Good work, Arlene!” Paulo replied happily as he clapped lightly on Arlene’s back.

            Arlene didn’t answer. She just stared blankly at Baby Angela with no expression at all.

                                                                        *

            For the next few days, Paulo and Isabella’s family and relatives came to visit Isabella and her new baby. They seemed to forget all about the issue of Arlene being a mecha as soon as they met Baby Angela. In fact, they forgot about her existence completely. Only when they’re away will Arlene have any chance to be with her Mama.

            “Everyone loves Little Angela, don’t they?” Arlene asked, staring at the baby in her incubator.

            “She’s so pretty, of course everyone loves her. I love her too,” Isabella replied as she sat beside Arlene. When she saw Arlene’s blank face, she quickly added, “Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. You and Angela are both my prized little girls. Nothing can change that.”

            “Am I? Am I really your little girl?” Arlene looked at her, her aquamarine eyes sparkled with hope.

            “Yes, Arlene. You and Angela are my little girls,” Isabella smiled and hugged Arlene close to her.

            Arlene’s eyes became blank once more.

                                                                        *

            “Welcome home!!!”

            The Santonios were greeted cheerfully as Isabella came home with Baby Angela. The family has received news that Baby Angela was already full-term enough to be taken out of the incubator and taken home. Paulo told Arlene to inform everyone in the family so that they can throw a small welcome party. Arlene was hesitant to do so but after much coaxing from Kitty (“Mama will be upset if you don’t do it”), she finally obliged to his orders. The friends and relatives came and while Paulo took Isabella to the hospital to fetch Angela, Arlene helped out with the decorations and the food.

            As soon as Isabella got home, the whole place was cheerful and bright. Everyone fussed about Baby Angela and drank to her health over and over again. Arlene was left with the serving of food and it was obvious that neither Isabella nor Paulo noticed Arlene when she was walking around helping with the food or when she actually sat right in front of her Mama trying to grab her attention with her winning smile and sparkling aquamarine eyes. It was obvious that her eyes had lost her shine and attraction when she noticed those loving eyes Isabella used to show on her were shown on Baby Angela.

            Finally, she didn’t bother to serve or help out with the chores anymore. She didn’t want to join in the celebration altogether. She slowly slinked upstairs and locked herself up in her room. Kitty came to her and snuggled himself in Arlene’s arms, as usual.

            “What are you doing up here? Why aren’t you with Mama and Papa downstairs playing with Baby Angela?”

            “They have forgotten about me. They have Angela as their new little girl. They don’t want me anymore,” Arlene said grudgingly, holding Kitty close to her chest.

            “That is not true, Arlene. You are still Mama’s little girl no matter what. She will never forget you.”

            “She has now.”

            “Maybe it’s for a while. She’ll start noticing you as soon as Angela grows up to be as big as you.”

            Arlene didn’t reply.

                                                                        *

            The door of the nursery room creaked open. Silent footsteps were heard as someone walked on the carpeted floor into the room. She walked slowly towards the baby cot which Baby Angela slept on. She stared intently at the sleeping baby, looking so innocent, lovely and cute. She reached over and turned off the baby walkie-talkie. The click of the walkie-talkie reached the sensitive ears of the baby and woke her up.

            Before Baby Angela could cry, hands reached out towards her face, one hand pinching her nose and the other pressing tightly on her mouth. Baby Angela struggled to move and shake the hands that were suffocating her but the hands were much stronger. The hands continued to pinch her nose and pressing her mouth shut quite hard—it doesn’t take too much force to hold down a baby. After much struggle, the baby stopped moving. The person who held Baby Angela down pressed down hard again for a minute or so until she was sure that the baby was completely immobile.

            Slowly she let her hands go. She stroked the baby’s head and pulled the blanket over her, tucking her in as if she was still sleeping. She lowered her head into the cot and kissed the baby’s forehead. Before she turned on the baby walkie-talkie, she whispered into the lifeless baby’s ear:

            “There can only be one Mama’s little girl.”


	7. Chapter 7

            A frantic cry came out of the nursery room. Paulo and Arlene quickly rushed towards the room. They saw Isabella wailing and crying her eyes out, Baby Angela held close to her chest. Paulo came to her aid.

            “What is it, honey? What happened to Angela?”

            “She’s…She’s dead! Our baby is dead! Oh God, Paulo, our little daughter is dead!!” Isabella wailed. Paulo was horrified. He took Angela and felt for hr pulse. He tried to resuscitate her but in vain; she had died way too long to be brought back to life again. Arlene stood there staring innocently at her parents.

            “What going on, Mama? What’s the matter, Paulo? Is there something wrong with Baby Angela?”

            The Santonios didn’t answer her, but Isabella came over to her and reached out for her, hugging her close. Arlene hugged her back, feeling the warmth of her Mama’s body on her. She felt so comforted and relieved to have her Mama in her arms again. Isabella then let her go abruptly and ran into her room, sobbing.

            “What is wrong with Mama, Paulo?” Arlene asked.

            “She’s…She’s upset, sweetie,” Paulo laid his hands on Arlene’s shoulders. “I have to tell you this, Arlene. Angela…Angela is…is dead. She’s dead. She just…died in her sleep.”

            “Oh no. No, no, no, it can’t be!” Arlene shook her head, her face full of denial.

            “Yes, Arlene. Angela is gone now. You…Can you hold Angela for a moment while I call the doctor, OK?”

            Arlene nodded as she took Angela in her arms. Kitty hugged Arlene’s arms tight as she sat down with the cold body of the baby in her arms.

            “Oh no. Arlene, is she really dead? Is she really gone?” Kitty asked sadly.

            “Yes, Kitty. She’s dead,” Arlene replied coldly as she rocked the baby to and fro as if rocking her to sleep, as if she was still alive. She lowered her voice when she added, “Good and dead.”

            Kitty failed to notice the cold tone on her voice, just as he failed to notice the cold smile on her face.

                                                                        *

            Isabella lay on her bed all day, her eyes swollen with all the crying. Many friends and relatives came to wish their condolences to the Santonios but Isabella was deaf to their words. She was so devastated that she didn’t even attend the burial ceremony of their Baby Angela.

            During the funeral tea party, Arlene didn’t mind helping Paulo with the hosting of guests. Everyone said their condolences to Paulo and added more on Arlene. She was dressed by Paulo in an elegant black for this occasion, and Arlene made Kitty join in the funeral by tying a black bow tie on his neck. Most of the attention was on her now.

            “Oh, I’m so sorry, Arlene.”

            “You must be devastated. You only had Angela for a while and you didn’t even get to be her sister.”

            “There is always another time.”

            “Yes. Your Mama is still young. You’ll get another chance.”

            “Silly woman! Nothing can be her lovely baby sister’s substitute!”

            “I’m so sorry for you, Arlene.”

            Arlene remained silent throughout the whole tea party, showing how sad she was. She slowly went away from the crowd and slipped upstairs. She and Kitty moved slowly towards Isabella’s room and, as expected, saw her on the bed staring into space. Arlene tiptoed to her bed and crawled up the bed towards her dearest Mama.

            “Mama? Mama, are you OK?”

            Isabella didn’t reply. She continued to stare at nothingness. It was expected.

            “Mama, it’s alright. I’m still here with you. I’ll be with you always,” Arlene said as she brought Isabella’s arm around her shoulder. Arlene snuggled herself into Isabella and caressed her cheek. Isabella didn’t as much as flinch at her touch.

            “I love you, Mama. I will always love you. I will always be your little girl.”

            Tears began to flow out of Isabella’s eyes as she began to hug Arlene tight. And finally, after all the baby’s incident and her death, Arlene finally smiled sweetly as her aquamarine eyes began to sparkle innocently again.

            She finally had her place as her Mama’s little girl in Isabella’s heart once more.


	8. Chapter 8

            Throughout Isabella’s recovery over the loss of the baby, Arlene spent a great deal of time with her. Although Isabella didn’t respond much to whatever Arlene said, Arlene didn’t mind. As long as her Mama was by her side, she was contented. She didn’t mind helping out the housework, she didn’t mind bringing breakfast in bed for her and she certainly didn’t mind helping her with the anti-depressant pills Paulo got for Isabella.

            It wasn’t easy, but Isabella finally was quite over with the phase. In order not make Isabella remember the past and be upset about it again, Paulo told Arlene to lock up the nursery room and never open it again until he gets it all sorted out again for other uses. Arlene did as she was told.

            Later that night, while Isabella sat on the bed looking—not exactly reading—a novel, Paulo wrapped his arms around her and asked, “Are you OK, Isabella?”

            Isabella just nodded.

            “I was thinking…our application for adoptions are still open. If you don’t mind, I think next month we’ll go and…”

            “No. I will not hear about it,” Isabella protested almost immediately.

            “Why not? You always wanted to adopt, why not do it as soon as possible?”

            “Paulo, are you out of your mind? I don’t want to have another child anymore!” Isabella was beginning to break down into a verge of tears again. “Nothing can replace Baby Angela! Nothing! I have Arlene and that’s enough.”

            “Isabella, Arlene is a mecha. She’s not a real child. You know that.”

            “At least she will not die. At least she is not as vulnerable as we orgas do. At least I can have her forever.”

            “Isabella, you cannot have her forever. She can’t die but you will. She will never grow up, she will never change and she will never be the real child we would always want. You said before that you want a child you can watch grow up and have a career and have a family and all that. You said it before. Arlene cannot do that. She will always be a little child and she will forever be that way. She is programmed to be one.”

            Isabella looked away, trying to ignore her husband’s words.

            “Isabella, please. Try to consider. Now, I’m not rushing into things. We can do it anytime we want, but we have to do it somehow someday. Don’t fight this. Maybe we’re just not ready for a child of our own yet, or maybe we’re just not destined to have children of our own flesh and blood at all. Whatever happens, we can have a child no matter what. If this doesn’t work, we can always try another way. Besides, I don’t really have much of a liking to Arlene anymore.”

            Isabella finally responded, “What do you mean?”

            “She thought I didn’t know it, but I saw it in her eyes when we went to the nursery room at the hospital when Angela was born. She didn’t like Angela.”

            “Don’t be silly! Are you accusing her of having something to do with Angela’s death?” Isabella asked in disbelief.

            “I’m not suggesting anything.”

            “Bite your tongue, Paulo! She is just a child, like you said she was programmed to. Sure, children can get jealous when a new family arrives, but she is programmed to love. She wouldn’t even hurt a fly! Arlene would never do anything to hurt Angela. I know it!”

            “Alright, maybe I’m jumping into conclusions,” Paulo said finally, “but as I said, you cannot have Arlene as your daughter forever. She is a mecha, you have to remember that. You cannot take care of a child forever. And you definitely cannot let a mecha which is programmed to have a child’s mind to depend on you forever.”

            Isabella sighed and muttered, “You’re right.”

            “Next month we’ll try out the applications again, OK? I know this great orphanage where they have great kids. You’re going to love them, I promise. Give it a try, OK, my sweet mocha?”

            Isabella contemplated for a while, then nodded and snuggled herself in her dear husband’s arms.

            Outside the house, at the backyard, Arlene was burning Baby Angela’s Super Toy along with the rest of the gathered autumn leaves.

                                                                        *

            Isabella and Paulo stopped in front of Everlasting Love Orphanage and got off from the car. They could see a number of children running around playing tag at a vast playground. They were children of all races, including some Chinese, Indians, and even some of the South American race. They looked all perky and nice, and most importantly, well-fed. They all looked so innocent and pretty. Isabella couldn’t help keeping her eyes a second longer on all those children.

            Inside the orphanage, in the office, the Santonios sat in front of the Head of the orphanage to go through a small interview. Finally Ms. Hershey (the Head) decided to take the Santonios on a tour around the orphanage. On the way, she explained of her orphanage’s services and the care they provided to those orphans and also the history of her orphanage. She then took the Santonios to have a close look at the children playing at the playground.

            There, Isabella could feast her eyes to each and every one of the children there. She felt herself unknowingly drawn towards them. Somehow, her troubles about Arlene and the death of Baby Angela just drift away like sand in her palms. Her mind, before, was contemplating about declining Paulo’s decision to adopt for fear of hurting Arlene’s feelings and fearing that she would utterly be tagged as a careless, heartless mother who forgets her baby immediately after her death—but now, at the sight of those lovely children waiting for someone to pick them and give them a loving family seemed to become Isabella’s priority in her mind.

            And when she saw a child playing alone on the swing, she knew what she wanted.

                                                                        *

            Arlene was playing hide-and-seek with Kitty until she heard the sound of the sliding front door open. She immediately got out of her hiding place, running past Kitty and ignoring him saying “Found you” and rushing towards the front door, waiting anxiously for her loving Mama and Paulo.

            When she was halfway down the steps, a boy greeted her. He was about a few years younger than her programmed age—he was maybe about 5 or 6 years old—and he was a Chinese, with black ebony hair and a pair of cute dark brown eyes. He smiled innocently at Arlene and reached over to hug her arm.

            “Mama,” Arlene turned to her Mama and Paulo who were all smiles, “who is this boy?”

            “Sorry, Arlene. I should’ve called you but I wanna make it a surprise,” Isabella replied apologetically. She tore the boy away from Arlene and made him face her mecha daughter. “This is Chang. But from now on, he’ll be named Roberto Santonio.”

            “Mama, who is he?” Arlene’s eyes stared straight at her Mama’s.

            “This is your new brother,” Isabella replied before rushing over to Paulo’s call. Chang, now Roberto, followed behind her, laughing gleefully.

            Arlene’s innocent aquamarine eyes just became flamingly deadly.


	9. Chapter 9

            Things were back to normal again for the Santonios, but not for Arlene. Roberto was a very fine kid and acknowledged Isabella and Paulo as his parents almost immediately. He still had a few Chinese backgrounds in him, so it wasn’t surprising when he addressed Arlene as his Jie-Jie (Big Sister).

            Arlene tried to make peace with herself and tried to accept him into the family but she could see that her position in the family and in Isabella’s eyes as her only little girl was beginning to sway yet again. She was often told to be lenient with Roberto and not fuss about little things Roberto did. There was once Arlene tried to get attention from her Mama by painting a pretty picture of her and her Mama together but the moment she turned her back, Roberto—the child he was—snuck up and doodled all over the painting. Needless to say, when Arlene complained this to Isabella, Isabella told her to forgive Roberto for he was only a child.

            There were other times when Arlene felt threatened too, especially at the dinner table. Roberto would sit closely beside Isabella and Isabella would feed him. Arlene could only sit and watch Isabella feeding him spoon after spoon of food that she herself was not programmed to accept. All the Santonios did were laughing and fussing all over Little Roberto. Arlene could see that those eyes reserved for her were again taken away by the existence of this unwanted ‘intruder’.

            Kitty, who was sitting at the dinner table beside Arlene, feared the worst.

                                                                        *

            Arlene was playing a game of dodge ball with Roberto in the yard, using a soft ball that wouldn’t hurt him when the ball hit him. People who passed by their home smiled when they saw how much fun those two siblings were having. What they didn’t know is that Arlene wasn’t doing this with her own free will. She did it to please her Mama.

            There were a few times when Arlene threw the ball too hard that when Roberto dodged it, it rolled out into the busy street and Arlene often had to get it. But then when the ball rolled out into the road again, Arlene stood there without moving an inch.

            “Jie-Jie, why don’t you get the ball?” Roberto was surprised.

            “I want you to get it,” Arlene smiled innocently.

            “No. You always get the ball. Why should I go get it?”

            “Because I want you to.”

            “Why?”

            “Because I’m your sister,” Arlene smiled even sweeter as she advanced towards her brother, “and brothers always listen to their sisters. Besides, if you go get it, Mama would like you more.”

            “Really?” Roberto’s eyes began to widen in wonder.

            “If you go get the ball, Mama would say that you are a brave boy. She might even give you a candy, and I will give you a candy too. Do you want candy?”

            Roberto nodded eagerly.

            “Then go get the ball. And then I’ll go tell Mama and we will both give you a candy.”

            Roberto smiled happily as he ran towards the road to get the ball. As the small child he was, he didn’t bother to look left or right. His eyes were on the ball and his mind was on the candies he was going to get when he retrieves the ball. He didn’t notice the dark smile on Arlene’s lips.

            Needless to say, an accident was inevitable. A car came closing in unaware and was unable to notice Roberto’s tiny body in the middle of the road. It was so freaking big for a car and quite fast that Roberto was not going to make it. But luck was pretty much on Roberto’s side and not on Arlene’s, for when the incoming car came and was almost going to hit Roberto, it slowed down just in time to only bump Roberto a little and topple him like a pack of cards. Roberto landed slightly hard on his butt and was soon heard crying.

            Isabella heard his cries and came rushing out of the house. The driver came out of his car too and apologized profusely to Isabella for all the trouble. Isabella carried Roberto in her arms and hushed him while Arlene glared darkly at the car that was leaving as she picked up the ball.

            “Why didn’t you look after your brother, Arlene? You know it is dangerous for him to go out in the road!” Isabella said as soon as they were inside the house. Lucky for Roberto, he only had a few bruises and a small cut.

            “Jie-Jie said I can get a candy if I get the ball,” Roberto pouted, looking at Arlene with tear-filled eyes.

            “I thought there was no car, Mama,” Arlene replied innocently when Isabella looked at her. “The road was clear. I was going to get him when I saw the car, but I was scared, Mama…”

            “Alright, alright, Arlene. No more explanations. Your father is not going to like it when he hears about this, so no more loco business like this, OK?”

            “Yes, Mama,” Arlene replied as she watched Isabella carrying Roberto into the kitchen to get him a candy.

                                                                        *

            Arlene came into the nursery and saw Roberto playing with Kitty and some blocks. He was laughing all the way, as if having so much fun. Arlene came over and smiled sweetly.

            “Can I play too? What are you playing?”

            “I’m building a tower with Kitty!” Roberto giggled, much to Arlene’s silent detest.

            “Really? Let’s play another game, a more fun game. Do you want to play?”

            Roberto, as innocent as a 5-year-old child can be, nodded. Arlene took Roberto by the shoulder and smiled even more, which is something she would seldom do unless she was in front of Isabella or if her mind was up to something. And she definitely was up to something.

            “We’re gonna play a game of hide-and-seek. I’ll be the person to look for you. While I count to 10, you and Kitty go and hide, and I will find you. OK?”

            “OK!” Roberto grinned cheerfully.

            “Good. Now I will count to 10. You and Kitty go hide. 1…2…3…”

            Arlene could hear the pitter-patter of feet as Roberto and Kitty rushed to find some place to hide. Her voice slowly trailed off as she revealed her eyes from her palms. She waited for a minute or two until the whole house was so silent that anyone could hear a pin drop. She stood up quietly as not to make a sound. She tiptoed her way around the house, looking for them and yell the words “Found you” at them. So far, she hadn’t found any of them—Kitty was quite a good hider as he is a toy—but soon, when he entered her parents’ room, there she saw Roberto’s feet behind the curtains of the window. Arlene grinned; such a typical place to hide for a typical 5-year-old.

            Without warning, Arlene used both of her hands to grab Roberto who was hiding behind the curtain. She held the struggling boy with all her might, all the while doing it in silence. She hugged the boy with one hand with the curtain still wrapped around him so that he could not see and held his head like a basketball with the other and, using all her strength, rammed the head onto the railings of the window. One blow, that’s all it took, and the boy immediately went limp. As she let him go from her deadly embrace, Roberto slumped to the ground and slipped out of the curtain, his head bashed beyond recognition and pieces of his flesh and hair quite stuck to the railings.

            Arlene looked straight into Roberto’s blank eyes and smiled cheerfully, as if it was all a game.

            “Found you.”


	10. Chapter 10

            Cops and their cars surrounded the house of the Santonios. The ambulance was there too. People from the forensics came to do their job of analyzing and taking records. The Santonios and Arlene were all seated in the living room, looking pretty devastated.

            “So, Arlene,” a cop took out his notebook to jot down the details, “tell me again what happened?”

            Arlene looked down forlornly, hugging Kitty close to her chest and said, “I was playing hide-and-seek with Roberto and Kitty. I was supposed to be looking for them. And then…”

            “And then what happened?”

            Arlene moved herself closer to Isabella and continued, “I heard some noises in Mama’s room. I thought it was Roberto, so I went to the room. Then I saw a man come out of the room and ran away. Then I saw Roberto on the floor…”

            “Did you see how he looked like?”

            Arlene shook her head, then clutched Isabella’s sleeve and asked, “Mama, I’m scared. Am I in trouble?”

            “No, Arlene. You’re not in trouble. It’s alright,” Isabella hugged Arlene tearfully, seemingly sad about yet another loss of a child.

            “Alfred, what’s the status here?” the cop turned around and asked a forensic who was doing his rounds around the house of the Santonios.

            “Seems like our suspect tried to break in and rob this house,” Alfred replied as he pointed to the backdoor of the house. “Notice this smash on the glass of the door. It was done by a punch in the hand and it was done from the outside, judging by the glass that fell inward. It wasn’t too strong, ‘coz the suspect was either not wanting to alert the people in the house or he was a small man. He made sure he took off his shoes because we can’t find any footprints here or anywhere else. Looks like he didn’t get to steal anything. And he was probably wearing gloves because we’re unable to find any prints from the curtains in which the victim was struggling with the suspect.”

            “So my guess is,” the cop checked his notes, “that our suspect was about to steal from Mr. and Mrs. Santonio’s room but was found by the victim, and therefore he tried to shut him up. What a cruel way of silencing a 5-year-old boy.”

            “Will you find this evil man who had killed our son?” Paulo asked, his face full of remorse and hate towards whoever done this deed to a boy who just came into the family.

            “We’ll try, Mr. Santonio, but without much evidence I guess it will take some time,” the cop replied. “We’ll do whatever we can to solve this.”

            As the people finished their investigation and were ready to leave, Arlene stayed protected behind Isabella until they were well away from the house, all the while her eyes were gleaming like polished jewels under the light.

                                                                        *

            “That little girl is a real devil!”

            Paulo’s angry yells and shouts could be heard in the Santonios’ room. Isabella tried to calm her raging husband down.

            “Paulo, honey, be reasonable. Roberto’s death was an accident. He was attacked. It had nothing to do with Arlene…”

            “Why are you always protecting that little devil?! Haven’t you noticed that ever since we brought her into our family, nothing good has ever happened?! We were being criticized by our family for having a robot for a child, our Angela died and now this! It’s like ever since she came here, there is always something happening to the new family member!!”

           “Hush, Paulo. Don’t say such a thing,” Isabella looked towards the door to see if Arlene was around and heard them. “She means no harm. She didn’t do anything. You can’t be sure about that.”

            “How would you know she didn’t do anything? I tell you, she’s a living devil! She’s a spawn from hell! She is walking disaster ever since she came here! She’s bad luck, I tell you!”

            “Well, you brought her here,” Isabella huffed and walked towards the bed, not wanting to argue anymore.

            “Well, it was a mistake! I’m taking her back to Cybertronics to get her checked out. If possible, I want her dismantled!”

            “Paulo, that’s too harsh…”

            “You’re not stopping me, Isabella! Not this time! I brought her here; I can bring her back, where she really belongs!”

            Isabella wasn’t able to protest. She knew her husband very well—once he had made his mind about something, you have to cross over his dead body if you ever want him to change his mind. She didn’t argue, but sighed in defeat.

            She hoped that she was right about Arlene not having anything to do with these recent happenings. Arlene was such an upright girl.

            Her little girl.

                                                                        *

            Paulo drove in silence with Arlene besides him, hugging Kitty. He wasn’t about to tell that little android where he was going to take her. He hoped that his suspicions were right—that there was something wrong with Arlene and that she had something to do with all the bad luck he and his wife had been through and hope that the staff of Cybertronics will dismantle her and give him a reasonable refund.

            “Where are we going, Paulo?” Arlene finally asked, breaking the ice.

            Paulo remained silent. If he were to tell her, Arlene would probably instinctively jump out of the car and his efforts would be wasted.

            “Where are we going, Paulo?”

            Still Paulo remained silent.

            “Where are we going, Paulo? Are we going shopping for Mama?” Arlene had that eerie, winning yet innocent smile.

            “…Yes, Arlene. We’re going to buy something for Mama for her birthday,” Paulo had to say something to stop her from asking.

            “But her birthday’s not till 2 months later.”

            “We’re going to get it early…’coz it’s a limited edition. We want to make it a surprise for her.”

            Arlene glanced sideways at the computerized map that was showing where the car was heading. She had been shopping with Isabella before and the data saved in her brain told her that it was definitely not the road to the supermarket or the shopping complex.

            “Paulo, we’re going to the place where I went to see the doctor to clean my stomach,” Arlene said coldly, her aquamarine eyes blazed with suspicion as she remembered the route it led. “Why are we going there?”

            “There’s a new shopping complex there,” Paulo answered quickly. “New shopping complexes always sell limited edition gifts there. That’s why we have to go early.”

            “You’re lying.”

            Paulo was quite shocked by Arlene’s abrupt accusation, but he tried to keep his eyes focused on the road. “Of course not, sweetie. Why would I lie to you?”

            “You’re lying to me, Paulo. Mama doesn’t like people to lie.”

            “Arlene, listen…”

            “You want to take me away from Mama, don’t you?”

            “Arlene…”

            “DON’T YOU?!”

            Paulo was very shocked now to hear Arlene’s shout. He had never heard Arlene raise her voice before at anyone. When he turned to look at Arlene and explain, he was even shocked to see that her eyes no longer expressed the innocent, angelic-looking Arlene who first stepped into the Santonio family, but the eyes of a cold, vengeful being full of hate that would destroy anything that stood in her way to get what she want.

            “I will not let you take me away from Mama!” Arlene hissed and, without warning, grabbed the steering wheel. Paulo and Arlene wrestled with the steering wheel, sending the car swerving from left to right like some drunkard trying to drive the car right. After much struggle, the car finally screeched towards a tree and hit it squarely with a loud bang. Everything became really silent for a minute or two. The crashed car seemed pretty much intact with only the front crunched like a tin foil.

            Slowly, Arlene could be seen crawling out of the car with Kitty in her arms. She coughed a little bit before getting up to her feet. Her eyes caught sight of the tool kit that was flung out of the car by the crash, and the tools were scattered all over the grassy ground. She walked towards the fallen tool kit, ignored Kitty’s plead and picked up a wrench. She walked stealthily towards the driver’s seat and opened the door.

            Paulo was quite alive, with a bleeding forehead and his leg stuck between the brakes. In fact, his body was pretty mangled in a jam he couldn’t get out of, but he was alive nonetheless.

            “Arlene…go get help…” Paulo breathed, but stopped when he saw the coldness flashed across the android’s eyes.

            “No one is going to take me away from Mama,” Arlene said before she brought the wrench down onto his already bleeding head over and over again…

            When Arlene finally stopped, she saw the wrench drenched with blood and smeared with pieces of Paulo’s brain and skull fragments. Her clothes were stained with droplets of Paulo’s blood and brain juice but she took it pretty well. Paulo’s head—needless to say—was _way_ beyond recognition. She eyed at the wrench absent-mindedly for a while before throwing it casually back into the car like it was just a piece of trash. She looked around the smashed car and her clear eyes caught sight of the bottom of the car leaking oil. She knew Paulo had a mild smoking habit, so she stuffed her hand into his pockets to find a lighter. She found a box of matches and slowly took out a match.

            “No, Arlene, this is not right,” Kitty tried to reason with her but Arlene laid a finger on his furry mouth and hushed him with an innocent smile, as innocent as the first time she met her Mama.

            “This will be our little secret, OK?” Arlene said sweetly before she struck the fatal match.

            Soon, Arlene could be seen walking away from the burning car with Kitty cuddled lovingly in her arms and was well away from it when it finally exploded.


	11. Chapter 11

            Arlene continued to stroll down the empty road with Kitty in her arms. She didn’t know how she was going to go home, but she definitely knew that this was the route back home and she was on her way back to meet her beloved Mama.

            The sun began to set and the moon began to rise. She may be an android but she certainly wasn’t programmed to have super speed so that she could go home faster. She’ll just have to put up with walking. There were cars passing by occasionally but none of them seemed to noticed that little girl with a Super Toy in her arms. Her footsteps echoed through the night as she walked down the lonely road as fast as she could to get home. Her whole body was covered with dirt and grime due to the car accident but so far nothing broken. The road may be quite dark, but she was programmed to see in the dark, so it didn’t bother her when there was lack of streetlights. The road she was walking on was near the forest, so there were also sounds of birds in the trees.

            Suddenly, Arlene saw another moon in the sky, rising higher and higher than the first one. Soon the ‘moon’ came into focus and Arlene saw that it wasn’t a moon, but a special effect made on a hot-air balloon which carried a few people in it. A huge blinking sign written in huge letters ‘ **FLESH FAIR** ’ was on the hot-air balloon.

            “Any old metal? Any old metal?” Arlene could hear one of them calling out using a loudspeaker. Then, almost suddenly, a dozen or two androids were running past her. They seemed like they had seen better days; their whole bodies were either being torn apart or were quite unfinished. Some were charred and others were damaged here and there. Arlene stared in horror at those scary, weird looking people.

            From behind, roars of motorcycles were heard. Arlene looked back and saw motor bikers wearing flashy outfits chasing the broken-down androids with their fierce-looking motorcycles that looked like it just came from hell. Arlene took to her heels and ran with the androids, hugging Kitty tight to her chest. She could see those androids being caught one by one with some sort of magnetic gadgets as it made them attach themselves on the streetlights. Arlene ran for her life. She didn’t want to be caught for no reason. She just wanted to go home to her Mama where no one would ever come between them ever. She just wanted to go home…

            Soon she found herself not running anymore, but in the arm of one of the flashy scary motor bikers. She held Kitty tighter and closer to her chest, not wanting to let go and be alone with these madmen. She put up a struggle, demanding to be let go but the roar of the motorcycle drowned her tiny voice. She was facing the back of the motorcycle and she could see it dragging a net filled with those broken-up androids and robots. The other motorcycles that followed behind it were also dragging nets of androids and robots, all begging for their lives to be spared. Arlene was scared. Extremely scared. So scared, that her DAS was activated.

            “Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe, Kitty. Keep me safe…” she muttered all the way to the final destination.

                                                                        *

            Arlene’s eyes finally came to focus. She saw herself surrounded by the wrecked androids and robots. She backed away, horrified at the monstrosity and the filthiness of these creatures before her. She was an innocent child once again when she found herself in this predicament. She found herself in a huge metal cage in a big auditorium. She looked outside and saw dozens upon dozens of people sitting or standing outside cheering and laughing while there were loud booms and zaps and a whole lot of other explosive noises.

            When she looked closer, she saw those broken androids being dragged out into the field and were either stuffed into cannons or cuffed onto a wheel or tied on a board under pails of acid and they were demolished one by one, much to her horror. ‘Will I become like this?!’ she thought in horror. ‘I can’t be like this! I want to be with my Mama!’

            “Next!” Arlene heard someone called. He saw a burly-looking chubby man in his 30’s stormed in. He was wearing a flashy-looking cowboy outfit and he came in with a few more men wearing dark uniforms. He checked around and pointed at the robots one by one, choosing randomly. Arlene tried to hide behind a rusty ancient-old android, but her aquamarine eyes shone even at the dimmest light, so she was spotted.

            “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” The burly man came towards Arlene, pulling her from behind the robot and gesturing the men to take the robot away for the Flesh Fair event. He then took out a scanner and checked Arlene through and through. He frowned and said, “Just as I suspected. Another child android. I know just what to do with you.”

            He grabbed Arlene’s arm and dragged her into a filthy room filled with more dark-uniformed men. He pushed her onto a chair and grabbed Kitty away from her. He snapped his fingers and two of the men got the cue. They held Arlene’s arms down with their strong hands, making her unable to move. Well, she was programmed with the strength of a small child, so it wasn’t surprising she couldn’t get free. The man (we’ll call him the Boss) came close to Arlene and grabbed her chin harshly, turning her head from side to side, inspecting her.

            “A pretty lil’ lass, but a troublemaker all the same,” the Boss said. “The last kid robot almost cost me my business.”

            ‘The last kid robot?’ Arlene thought. ‘Are there any other android kids like me?’

            “We know what troublemakers like you should be handled,” the Boss said as he gestured at one of the men. The man came close and the Boss jerked his head at Arlene. As the man closed in on Arlene, the Boss grinned and said, “Once you’re permanently turned off, you won’t be able to ruin my fair anymore.”

            Arlene was shocked. He was going to turn her off! He was going to shut her down and throw her away with the rest of the broken-down robots to be demolished. She would never see her Mama ever again. That thought sent a gleam into her aquamarine eyes. The man forced her mouth open. As he tried to find the switch to turn her off and open the contraption of her face, something went with a loud snap, followed by a loud cry of agony.

            Everyone was horrified and quite distracted until the men who held Arlene down loosened their grip on her. She walked stealthily towards the man who was rolling all over the floor clutching his right hand and spit out something that was drenched with blood at the man’s face.

            It was his finger. His index finger.

            Everyone stared at Arlene in horror as she smiled innocently with blood dripping out the left corner of her lips. They started to arm themselves one by one with anything heavy or sharp just incase Arlene tried to do anything harsh. Arlene casually stepped over the screaming man’s body and reached down from under the table, pulling out Kitty who was gagged and also tied. She released Kitty out of his captivity.

            She was about to leave as if nothing had happened but the men were gathering one by one to stop Arlene from getting away. Arlene was a tad little than the other men, so throughout their struggle to grab her, she only had to dodge and run around the wide spacious office, letting them banging at each other. There were some people who got a hold of her but she would grab either the sharp object and jabbed it through their chests, ripping it together with their hearts out or the heavy weapon and rammed it onto their skulls, splattering skull fragments and brain juice all over, killing them in an instant. Where she got that strength, only the Lord can tell. The whole place was a real havoc. You can’t exactly tell who’s catching who; it was too hectic, bloody and down right gory.

            Soon, as Arlene realized that no one was chasing her anymore, she saw a whole bunch of men (including the Boss) on the floor either dead or writhing in pain, groaning and moaning in agony. She looked around and noticed that there was blood everywhere. She looked at her clothes which were even messier with more blood and gore mixing with Paulo’s (the _already dead Paulo_ ) dried ones. She pouted and said, “Oh, Kitty, look. They’ve dirtied my clothes!”

            Arlene set Kitty down and looked around with that innocent look on her face. She hummed a merry Spanish tune her Mama used to sing to her before bedtime. After scavenging around she finally came across a few jars of kerosene oil stashed at the back of the office. Probably to be used on the demolishing of robot on the fair. She uncapped the jars and poured it all over the men lying on the floor, dead or alive. She drenched them all with kerosene with a smile on her face, like it was all just a game.

            Suddenly someone came into the room by surprise. She turned around and saw that it was the men—two of them—that were in charge of demolishing the robots. They probably came in for more supplies of ‘ammo’ to torture the robots. When the men’s facial expressions twisted into a face of horror, Arlene wasted no time. She pulled out a sharp object, one for each hand, from one of the bodies’ chest and walked as fast as she could towards the men. Without warning, she stabbed both the men with it, embedding them deep into their abdomen. They had no time to react. They slumped onto the floor and Arlene, with a little strength she had, pulled the bodies closer to the rest of the other bodies (and dying people) and poured the remaining kerosene onto the men.

            “Arlene, why are you doing this?” Kitty asked, looking really worried.

            “No one likes a tattletale,” Arlene smiled in her own cold way as she dug the pockets of the Boss. Again, she found a box of matches in his jacket pocket and smiled when she looked at the horrified man’s face. He wanted to talk, to beg her not to harm him but his throat was slit by her earlier. She hushed the Boss and laid a finger on his bloody lips.

            “You shouldn’t play with fire.”

            So saying, she struck a match and dropped it on the Boss, watching him scream as he got burnt from head to toe. She got up slowly and struck another match, dropping it on another not-quite-dead victim and giggled like an innocent child as she watched the man burn, screaming for his life. As she backed away from the fire, she struck more and more matches, deliberately dropping them on those not dead yet and watched and laughed as they burn and scream and yell in agony. It was like hell just moved into the neighbourhood. Arlene finally picked up Kitty before the flames licked the table he was sitting on and walked casually to the door.

            “Bye bye, uncles. I had a great time with you! See you again soon!”

            Finally, as all the staff of Flesh Fair rushed to see the horrifying burning and tried to put out the fire, Arlene blended in with the escaping crowd of spectators out of the Flesh Fair, skipping happily away like she actually had fun in a real fun fair. As soon as she was far away from the Flesh Fair, she laughed out loud like the little child she was programmed as and skipped all the way back to the road where she just walked to go home, singing the Spanish lullaby out loud with glee.

            “Let’s go home to Mama, shall we?”


	12. Chapter 12

            Arlene continued to walk down the lonely road all by herself. She was thinking nothing else than the road ahead and the home she will reach where she will soon reunite with her Mama Isabella and be with her forever, never to part. She hoped that her Mama would be sitting on her usual sofa, sipping her favourite hot chocolate, waiting for her to come home. She couldn’t wait to be with her. She had been away from her for too long to bear.

            As she walked on, a police car passed by. His sirens were on at that time, but as the policeman in the car noticed her, he turned off the siren and slowed down his car beside her. Arlene saw him, but she just smiled innocently at him and continued on her way.

            “Hey, little girl. Where are you going?” the policeman asked. “You look really filthy.”

            “Mama said I shouldn’t talk to strangers,” Arlene replied, not looking at the policeman. Kitty nodded in agreement.

            “I’m not a stranger. I’m a policeman. I help people, see?” the policeman tried to talk the same level as the 10-year-old Arlene, showing off his badge. Not that Arlene was interested to see. “Where are you going, little girl?”

            “Home. I’m going home to my Mama.”

            “That’s a very cute Super Toy you got there. What’s his name?”

            “Kitty.”

            “And you?”

            “Arlene. Arlene Santonio.”

            “Well, Arlene Santonio,” the policeman said as he opened the door and got off the car. He touched Arlene’s shoulder gently and asked, “Would you mind if I take you home? You tell me your address and I will send you back home to your Mama, OK?”

            “Mama told me I shouldn’t hitch rides with strangers,” Arlene was still hesitant.

            “I told you, little girl, there’s nothing you should be afraid about me,” the policeman flashed his badge at her again. “I’m a policeman, and policemen help people, right? I’m here to help you.”

            Arlene stared with her pair of aquamarine eyes at the policeman for a while, took a glance at the police car. Finally, she nodded and took his hand, letting him lead her to the car. She sat at the back seat and told the police her address fully and clearly. She remembered the address from the data she had absorbed from the letters that her Mama got.

            “So, uh, what are you doing out there all alone?” the police asked.

            “Well…I got lost. I sort of got off the car when my Papa went for a leak and I got lost. I’m trying to walk back home.” Arlene told him the twisted truth.

            “Well, judging by the address you gave me, I say you’re in for quite a long trip. You must have been walking through the forests now, have you? You look practically smothered.”

            Arlene nodded. Lucky for her, the police thought that all the blood and brain juice and a whole lot of gory whatnot on her clothes were dirt and grime due to the mildly poor lighting of the streets.

            “Weren’t you afraid that there might be dangerous animals or vicious robot junks lurking around?”

            “Not really.”

            “Well, seems like you have a lot of faith in you, I see. If you ever get caught by any of those vicious-looking robot junks I heard often dumped in these forests and if you’re ever get mistaken as a robot by those Flesh Fair guys, you’d wish you’re at home.”

            “My sentiments exactly,” Arlene agreed, recalling the incident when she walked alone in the streets.

            “Speaking of Flesh Fair, I just came back from a terrible fire scene. One of the Flesh Fair offices got toasted and we found loads of burnt-down bodies lying around the ground. We thought they died burning, but it turned out that they actually died by stab wounds. Their bodies were like, eew, ripped off their hearts and crashed off their brains and such…am I grossing you out, little girl?”

            “No, I’m used to it,” Arlene replied innocently.

            “A tad too much horror movies, eh? Well, we couldn’t find any fingerprints or the murder weapon ‘coz it’s all burnt down to smithereens. No one knows who the killer is and my bet is that he could be still out here, lurking in the dark, ready to strike again. You’re lucky to have found me, or you’ll be dead meat!”

            “Thanks, Mister Policeman,” Arlene replied, trying to conceal the grin on her face. If only he knew who the real culprit of the fire was.

            The duo went on their way down the road towards Arlene’s home, chit-chatting along the way. The police made a stop at the gas station to do his ‘business’ and came back with a cup of coffee in one hand and another cup of hot chocolate in the other hand. He went into the car and offered the cup of hot chocolate to Arlene.

            “Here you go, Arlene. One cup of hot chocolate for the road.”

            Arlene shook her head and said, “I can’t drink, sir. I cannot eat anything. I will break.”

            “Break? What do you mean ‘break’?” the police asked, surprised.

            “I mean what I said. I’ll break.” Arlene repeated herself.

            “You mean…you mean as in break down? Like a mecha breaks down when they eat anything?” A good policeman often figures things out in a jiffy. Arlene nodded, smiling sweetly. The police started his car, giving her an uncomfortable sideways look, “Are you trying to say that you are actually a…a mecha?”

            “You can say that. Everybody says that,” Arlene replied, taking the cup of hot chocolate. “Thank you for the drink. Mama loves hot chocolate.”

            They continued down the road in silence. The police found it hard to believe that the dirty little girl sitting beside him with a Super Toy in her arms was actually a mecha. And a mecha child nonetheless! All the while, he thought she was a real ragamuffin girl who got lost in the forest, wanting to get home. Wait till he gets back to the station to tell the news. He was quite impressed at what wonders Cybertronics could do. ‘But if she’s a mecha,’ the young police thought, ‘would she be able to…?’

            His eyes glanced at Arlene’s body naughtily.

            “That’s my house! We’re here, sir! That’s my house!” Arlene shouted in excitement as she pointed towards the direction of her long awaited home. After such a long trip, she was finally home. The police glanced at it from his windscreen for a minute or two before swerving towards a dark inconspicuous corner. Arlene was surprised.

            “Sir? What are we doing here? Why aren’t you stopping at my house?”

            “It seems that Cybertronics have done a great job making you very life-like,” the police said naughtily as he inched his way to the backseat towards Arlene. His hands fondled with her clothes, ready to take them off.

            “Sir, what are you doing, sir? Let me go! I wanna go home to my Mama!” Arlene put up a struggle but the police was a tad stronger.

            “I’ve been with grown-up love mechas before but I’ve never seen a mecha child. Are you the new version of the love mecha?” the police asked, removing the top of her dress.

            “Let go of me! Let go! I wanna go home to Mama! You promised to take me home!”

            “Not until I’m done with you,” the police whispered as he slowly kissed Arlene’s fair neck and began to fondle with her body. Kitty knew exactly what the police was trying to do. He jumped up and tried to pull his hand away from Arlene’s body but the police flung him away, shutting him off in the process. He slowly started to take off her underwear and began to touch her at ‘the place’. Arlene gasped, shocked. She didn’t understand what the police was exactly trying to do to her, but she knew that he was stopping her from meeting her Mama.

            Arlene struggled, trying to push the police away from her but he was older and stronger. She wanted to go home, but this police wouldn’t let her. She wanted to get out of the car and run home, but the police was on her, trying to do something that her programmed 10-year-old mind couldn’t comprehend. She wanted to go home! She wanted to go home and be with her Mama forever, no one to stop her and no one to come between her and her Mama, but this policeman…

            Her hand felt something hard and cold. She grasped it and took it out. With her specially-programmed eyes, she saw in the dark that it was a gun. She had seen them before in the movies. She had her finger at the trigger. Struggling, she pulled out the safety pin and when she felt the police’s ‘something’ on her ‘place’, she fired.

            The police yelled in pain as he backed away, letting Arlene go. He was shocked that Arlene had his gun in her hand and was even shocked to see his right shoulder bleeding. Arlene was glaring at the police with her gleaming aquamarine eyes.

            “Now, Arlene. That thing is dangerous…put it down…” the police was struggling to both holding onto the pain and stop Arlene from doing anything stupid.

            “Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you let me go home? I just want to go back to be with my Mama! Is that so much to ask?!”

            “Arlene, calm down. You’re not thinking right here, I—”

            Arlene fired another shot, this time on the police’s left shoulder. She continued to glare in hatred at the police, hissing and gradually raising her voice, “First, it was Angela, then it was Roberto, later it was Paulo and those people at the Flesh Fair! And now it’s you!! Why are you always keeping me away from Mama? I just want to be with Mama! That’s all I ask for! Why are you always in my way?!”

            “Flesh Fair…? The burning…? It…It was you…?! But…” the police stopped abruptly when Arlene had the mouthpiece of the gun at the hollow of his throat. It was still warm from the shot she had made.

            “Why don’t you join the rest of them? You’ll have so much to talk about.”

            Arlene’s sweet smile was the last thing the police saw before the burning blast claimed his throat and his life.

                                                                        *

           Isabella heard the gun shots. She tried to look out of the window to see what was going on but couldn’t see anything. She was still staring worriedly out the window when she heard the sliding sound of the front door. She put away the hot chocolate she was drinking and rushed towards the door.

            There she was, her little girl Arlene she had been waiting for so long. When she heard the news about her husband’s death and the disappearance of her little girl, never once she was able to sleep peacefully. The police kept telling her that they were doing everything they can to find her but it wasn’t enough. Every night she sat at the living room, hoping that her Arlene would survive the crash and come home safe and sound. Now she had got her wish. She ran and hugged her little girl, crying happy tears.

            “Mama! Mama! I missed you, Mama!” Arlene couldn’t help crying herself.

            “Oh, my little girl! You’ve finally come back! I was so worried!”

            “I’m sorry, Mama, I wanted to come home sooner, but…” Arlene’s words were stopped with Isabella’s hand.

            “Hush, Arlene. You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”

            “I love you, Mama.”

            “I love you too, sweetie.”

            Finally, Arlene was in the arms of her Mama again.


	13. Chapter 13

            Arlene turned on Kitty as soon as she and Kitty got out of the showers. They were both nice and squeaky clean after cleaning all the dirt and grime (and the blood) off themselves. Arlene took a whiff of Kitty’s freshly clean fur and smiled.

            “Kitty, you smell heavenly!”

            “You do too, Arlene,” Kitty replied, nuzzling his hard nose onto her chest.

            “You can’t smell, Kitty, you know that,” Arlene giggled gleefully. It has been a long time since she actually had that genuine cheer on her face ever since her gory adventures trying to eliminate every ‘obstacle’ in her path. She walked towards her bed and snuggled herself into the thick, soft blanket. Isabella has gone to bed herself and, for the first time, she was sleeping well.

            “Where is Mama?” Kitty asked.

            “Mama’s asleep. She was really, really tired,” Arlene replied.

            “Mama must be really worried about you to be up almost all night for you. She deserves a good night’s sleep.”

            “Uh-huh. After all, I am her little girl,” Arlene smiled again before going into a trance, a sort of android sleeping state.

            Kitty looked at her with a sort of hurt look, not knowing what to say.

                                                                        *

            “I told you, go away! I don’t need your money!”

            Arlene was in the middle of hide-and-seek when she heard her Mama yelling at someone. She hurried downstairs. Kitty came out of his hiding place and followed behind Arlene. As they reached the railing of the stairs, Arlene stared from between the railings at a man standing at the front door. Isabella had her back turned, so Arlene couldn’t see her face. But she sure could see the man’s face: his hair somewhat silverish, a bit of wrinkles here and there but not much, and he seemed like somewhere in his 40’s. He was holding an envelope in his hand and Isabella was pushing the envelope away from her.

            “Please, Mrs. Santonio, I’m only doing my job,” the man said apologetically. “Don’t make this hard on me. Your husband has already signed the papers from our company and we are obliged to pay him his insurance if anything happens to him.”

            “Well, I am better off without his money, and I’m sure I can survive without it! I do not want to be accused of taking advantage of his death. Now go away!” Isabella made it clear to the man that she wanted nothing to do with him or the envelope he brought to her. She shoved him out of the door in an urging manner, desperate to get him out of her property.

            “Oh…OK, then…I’ll come next week then, in case you change your mind…” the man’s words were cut short by the shutting of the sliding front door. Isabella sighed in relief after being rid of him. Arlene finally made it downstairs and tugged at Isabella’s sleeve.

            “Mama, who is that man?”

            “Ugh! Just some loco guy who has been coming to our home every week asking me to take your Papa’s insurance money. Your Papa has signed some silly insurance paper and said that if anything happens to him, either he or Mama would get the insurance money from the Cybertronics he works in. Not that it’ll bring our Papa back anyway!” Isabella realized that she had raised her voice when Arlene looked back at her with her glassy aquamarine eyes. She knelt down level to Arlene’s height and said, “It’s alright, my little girl. Nothing to worry about. So, want to go shopping with Mama?”

            Arlene nodded happily. Everything was going so happily her way.

                                                                        *

            The man’s visits became quite frequent, from every week to every 3 days. Isabella would at first harshly shoo him out of the house, but slowly she started letting him in and sitting down with him in the living room having long talks together. It started out as a business-like conversation about the insurance money, but as time went by, Arlene noticed that her Mama’s interaction with that man became more and more intimate. She began to see her less and less and would often stay up late to wait for her Mama to come home when she went out with the man.

            The man, George was his name, was also utterly nice and sweet to her. He would get her gifts and offer to take her out on picnics and such with Isabella. He started calling her ‘Cookie’ and did his share of looking after her when Isabella was away. At night, he would tuck her into bed before he went out with Isabella on dates and would occasionally give her hugs and kisses like a father would to a daughter. Arlene’s little heart began to have that uneasy feeling again.

            Her worries came true when she played a secret hide-and-seek with Kitty after she was sure that her Mama was asleep. She was the ‘It’, and while she was looking for Kitty, she passed by her Mama’s bedroom. She saw a dim light shining out of the not-so-closed door and peered inside, curious. The night light was on and she could make out the silhouette of her Mama on bed…with George. She and George were completely bare and George was on her, kissing her neck whispering sweet nothings to her ear. Isabella was moaning with pleasure and kissing his lips hungrily, letting out more moans and groans as George thrust himself into her. They were completely drowned in their sea of passion and love-making to realize that they were being watched.

            Arlene’s aquamarine eyes glared dangerously bright at them.

                                                                        *

            “Do you want a new Papa?”

            Isabella and Arlene were enjoying breakfast together (well, only Isabella was eating) while waiting for George to come down and joined them—evidently, he spent the night there—and Isabella suddenly popped out the question to her little girl. Arlene stared at her with questioning eyes.

            “Well, it’s just that…you’ve seen Mama and George together for quite some time now and…well…” Isabella tried to put her feelings into words for her little girl to understand. “Everyone said I should move on after your Papa…you know. Even George said so. Mama has been thinking a lot and I think they’re right. I should move on with my life and not staying in the past all the time.”

            Arlene nodded without a word.  

            “And George and I have been talking for a long time and we realized that this was for the best. So…what do you think of having George as your new Papa?”

            “What about Paulo?” Arlene asked, staring straight at her Mama.

            “Oh, sweetie dear, I would never forget your Papa. Getting married to George doesn’t mean I’ll not think of your Papa. We’ll always be able to visit him at the cemetery at times. I love your Papa too, but like everyone said, I have to move on. So what do you say?”

            It took 5 minutes of long silence between the mother and daughter before Arlene finally said, “Am I still your little girl?”

            “Of course you are, sweetie. You’ll always be my little girl.”

            “Are you girls talking about me?” George’s voice butted in as he descended from the steps towards the dining room. He gave Arlene a smile and a pat on the head and walked over to kiss Isabella, then realized that Arlene was looking and asked Isabella, “Have you told her about…?”

            “Yes, I have and I’m not sure if our little girl is accept you or not,” Isabella had a slightly worried tone.

            “Really?” George said as he walked towards Arlene and fell on his knees exaggeratedly and took her hand. “Then I’ll have to ask her myself. My dear sweet little Arlene, will you be honoured to let your Mama be my wife and you be my little girl? Please? Pretty please?”

            After staring blankly at George with her aquamarine eyes, she giggled gingerly and said, “Welcome, Papa.”

            George grinned and carried Arlene up onto his shoulders, sending her into peals of laughter. He winked at the surprised and amused Isabella and said in triumph, “See? I told you she would understand.”

            “Thank you so much, George. I feel so much better,” Isabella said as she went up to him and gave him a hug, with Arlene still laughing in the background. She seemed so glad that both Isabella and George were convinced that she had absolutely no problem with their marriage and bonding together.

            Only Kitty, who remained seated at Arlene’s chair, could hear the slight trace of malevolence in Arlene’s laugh.


	14. Chapter 14

            Isabella’s friends and relatives have received their invitations to go attend her and George’s wedding. Families from both parties of the couple came to help out with the arrangements and things. Arlene also helped out a little by shopping for the right wedding outfit and getting her own bridesmaid dress. She even got Kitty a nice set of tux as he requested to be the ring bearer, giggling as she helped the little Super Toy dress up.

            During rehearsals on how to walk the aisle and stuff, everyone had a great laugh, especially when it was Kitty’s turn to walk as the ring bearer. Arlene couldn’t help giggling at the way Kitty hobbled down the aisle with the pretend rings in the cushion on his paws. Annoyed as he was, the little determined Super Toy continued to go along as rehearsed, perfecting himself as he went. It wasn’t always that an animated object plays a role in big occasions like these, and George and Isabella thought that having Kitty as a ring bearer would be an interesting thing to have in their wedding. A change of pace for the traditional course, as they call it.

            Arlene was also extremely helpful when she and Isabella together with the women of both couple’s families did the decorations for the cars, walls and for the church and stuff. She helped cut ribbons into reasonable strips and tied them onto those frilly doilies and onto balloons George and the other men helped blow using the tire pumps, because those age-old balloons were just so darn hard to be blown by mouth so George came up with this wacky idea. She joined in the laughter when some of the balloons that they attempt to blow blew up instead in their faces and she seemed like she enjoyed herself when she and Kitty stuck the decors onto the walls and cars and everywhere she and the Super Toy and the other kids were asked to stick. It seemed as if she had so much fun doing this that Isabella was really glad that she had made the decision to accept George’s proposal (although she did it while her mind was swimming with sex).

            Later that night, after much of the work has completed, Isabella tucked her little girl into bed. As she pulled the blanket across her, she asked, “Arlene, are you sure you’re OK with this?”

            “Yes, of course I’m sure,” Arlene replied innocently. “Why shouldn’t I be?”

            “It’s just that…well, you weren’t too keen that day…”

            “I was a little confused, that’s all,” Arlene replied with a genuine smile on her face. “I am still your little girl, am I not?”

            “Yes, yes, of course you are.”

            “Then why should I worry about you getting married with George? You said so yourself, that you wanted to move on, right?”

            Isabella smiled weakly, “You’re right. I’m just too worked up on things. I knew you’ll pull through,” she kissed Arlene’s forehead, “G’night, sweetie.”

            “G’night, Mama,” Arlene replied, and as her Mama left, her eyes glowed darkly. “Sleep tight, for I’ll be your little girl forever more.”

                                                                        *

            The ‘Big Day’ has finally come. Isabella was all set with her lovely white wedding dress and Arlene and Kitty in their own outfits. The proud groom, George, the rest of the men and the guests were all in the church waiting for Isabella’s arrival. When she got there, she and her girlfriends (including Arlene and Kitty) rushed from the backdoor into the church and in the waiting room. They were determined not to let George see her until the right moment when she walks down the aisle with her dad. While Isabella and her girlfriends giggled to themselves naughtily, Arlene slipped away to check out George, bringing a bottle of wine with her. She found George’s waiting room and knocked on the door.

            “Come in,” she heard George called and walked inside. She could see that her future Papa was pretty nervous as he was checking and rechecking to see if any part of his outfit looked out of place. When he saw Arlene coming in, he heaved a sigh of relief.

            “Ah, there you are, my little Cookie,” he said as he picked her up, sending her into giggles. “You look awfully pretty today. Is your Mama here?”

            Arlene shook her head naughtily.

            “Oh, don’t play games with me, Cookie. I know she’s here!” George said mischievously as he tickled Arlene’s ribs, making her let out peals of laughter. “Tell me, tell me that she’s here! She’s here, isn’t she?”

            “Yes, yes! Let go of me, it tickles!” Arlene finally admitted, and only stopped laughing when George stopped tickling her. “They told me not to let you see her.”

            “They still believe those old wives’ tales about bad luck to see the bride before their wedding?” George asked, making a small cute pout. Arlene giggled and shook her head.

            “They want you to see her first-hand in her most beautiful form.”

            “Then I guess I’ll have to be patient then,” George grinned before noticing the bottle of wine in her hands. “What’s that?”

            “Wine,” Arlene said as she held the bottle high up for him to see. “Red wine. They asked me to give it to you as a booster or some sort.”

            “Those guys do know how to calm a friend’s heart,” George said and opened the wine without hesitation. He poured himself a glass and offered Arlene. Arlene made a pout; he knew that she was a mecha and yet he was trying to tease her. George let out a hearty laugh and said “Just kidding” before he drained the glass of its rich red wine.

            Minutes later, George felt as if his throat and his stomach were burning. The burn started to rush up to the rest of the body and he could even feel his head scorching with the heat. He fell onto the floor, writhing and gagging, white foam and stomach acids came frothing out of his mouth. His whole body became red and his temperature began to soar. There was one thing on his mind: poison.

            As he struggled to fight death and to hold himself, his vision became blurry and he could see Arlene walking calmly towards and crouched down, staring at him as if he was an interesting show. When he tried to call for help, Arlene hushed him and laid her hand on his burning throat, whispering, “It’ll be all over now, George. Mama will soon be mine and no one will dirty her ever again.”

            Screams and shouts from his friends and Arlene’s smile was the last thing he heard and saw…

                                                                        *

            The wedding turned out to be a disaster. George’s friends and family found him crumpled on the ground frothing in the mouth and going as red as a boiled lobster. Arlene, of course, denied of any idea having known the wine was poisoned. He was rushed to the hospital immediately and the doctors said that if he were to be sent in later, he wouldn’t have made it. He had his stomach pumped and thoroughly cleaned before he was placed in the ICU for further observation. The poison that was in the wine was some sort of advanced pesticide for domestic flowers and plants. Arlene’s face looked blank throughout the whole procedure and everyone coaxed and calmed her saying that it was going to be alright.

            But everything wasn’t going to be alright, Arlene’s glittering aquamarine eyes seemed to say.

            George is still alive.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The beeping of the heartbeat machine was moving steadily and his breathing was pretty much regular. George was sleeping peacefully with his breathing mask on. He was the only one in the ward and the whole place seemed silent, except for the constant sound of breathing and beeping of the heartbeat machine.

            Soon a small figure came into the room. It was carrying something in one arm which seemed like a doll. It moved closer and closer and silently towards the bed where George lay. It stood there for a while and stared at the sleeping George for a full 5 minutes or so. It then stretched out its hand toward the controls of the heartbeat machine and the breathing support machine, tugging hard at its cord until it came off from its socket. The machines immediately went dead and the whole ward became entirely stock silent. A few minutes later, a small giggle was heard.

            It was no other than the so-called innocent giggle of Arlene.

            “The controls are just so interesting, don’t you think, Kitty?” Arlene’s tiny voice rang out, enjoying all this. “I think I kinda like this hospital.”

            Suddenly the lights were turned on. Arlene was caught by surprise. She spun round. There, behind here, stood Isabella and some of her relatives Arlene recognized during their first meeting at Paulo’s cousin’s wedding. In front of her sat George on a wheelchair—a little weak and pale but eyes full of life. Behind the crowd stood a few men wearing dark suits. Arlene recognized them as the people she had met in Cybertronics when she had that cake spell. All of them were looking at her with accusing glares.

            “Mama, I just came to see Papa…” Arlene let out her most innocent smile yet. “What is he doing out of bed?”

            “I can’t believe it…” Isabella said with tears brimming out of her eyes. “Why? Why did you do it?”

            “Do what, Mama?” Arlene asked, staring back at her with her sparkling aquamarine eyes.

            “Don’t try to play games with me, little girl!” Isabella burst out, her face going red with anger. “You know what you have done! You know that! You just tried to kill George by turning off the breathing support machine! We were hiding back here and we saw everything! How could you?!”

            “I only tripped over. It wasn’t my fault, honest,” Arlene was still in a state of denial. She couldn’t let her see her dark side. She was her little girl, and she wanted to stay that way.

            “Stop it, just stop lying to me!” Isabella yelled. “Paulo was right! You are a she-devil! Ever since we brought you into our family, nothing good has ever happened!! My Angela died, my Roberto died, my husband died, and now George was about to die!! If George hadn’t recovered just in time to tell me that it was you who poisoned him, he would’ve died too, just like the rest of the people that you have killed!”

            “He dirtied you, Mama,” Arlene finally vented out whatever was bottled up in her heart ever since she lost her Mama to Angela. “He was trying to take you away from me! Everyone is trying to take you away from me! I am your little girl! I’m supposed to be your little girl always and forever!”

            Isabella looked away. She couldn’t bear to see the little murderess that has been living under her roof for so long and yet not know it. She stepped aside for the Cybertronics staff to take her away. As they grabbed both her wrists, she dropped Kitty she was holding in her arms since just now. Kitty immediately got up to his feet and ran over towards George, who picked him up and sat him on his lap. Arlene screamed and struggled and protested, trying to wriggle her way out of the strong men’s arms.

            “Let go of me! Let go! Mama, save me! Mama, keep me safe!”

            Isabella didn’t move. She didn’t even look at her. Arlene could see that her eyes were full of anger and hate. Those loving eyes reserved for her were gone completely. Totally abolished from her tender eyes. Her worst fear has come. Arlene shouted at the top of her lungs, tears flowing out of her eyes.

            “Mama! Mama, don’t leave me alone! I’m your little girl! You promised me that I’ll be your little girl always and forever! _I’m your little girl!!! You promised me!!!_ I’M YOUR LITTLE GIRL~!!!”


	15. Chapter 15

            The chains tinkled and chinked as Arlene shifted her position to a more comfortable spot. It was a long drive from the hospital she was taken away from her Mama to Cybertronics, where she was born. The van she was in rumbled and bumped a little when they hit a landing or two. The men who dragged her out of the ward and out of the hospital into the back of the van were sitting in front of here, watching her every move and armed themselves with an EMP gun.

            She stared blankly at the chains and at the EMP gun. None of them mattered to her. What mattered to her right now was that she was away from her Mama and it was for good. She saw the hatred in her Mama’s eyes and she knew that she had no place in her heart anymore, not like she used to. Her Mama was gone and she’ll never be her little girl ever again.

            It was hard for her to believe that Isabella didn’t want her anymore. She had done so much for her and went through all that trouble just to enforce her place in her Mama’s heart as her little girl. She had seen the love in her eyes when they first met, and she had been the centre of her universe for so long. She had seen the love in her eyes slowly began to shift towards Baby Angela, and she knew she had to do something to get it back. She also seen it happen when Roberto came into the family and although she tried to have good terms with him, she couldn’t bear to see the love channeling to him instead of her, and she didn’t take long to do something about it. Paulo tried to take her away from her Mama and she got rid of that obstacle with much difficulty. She had to bypass and ‘take care’ of the Flesh Fair people and the policeman who was hindering her from going back to her Mama. She had been through all the trouble just to become Isabella’s little girl, and now everything has gone to waste.

            Her Mama didn’t want her. She herself has given up on her and kept herself away just for the sake of the man who has yet again tried to keep her from being her Mama’s little girl. She has become someone Isabella actually didn’t want anymore.

            Arlene found it very hard to take. ‘No one,’ she thought, ‘no one has the rightful place in Mama’s heart but me! Me and me alone! Why Mama wanted to throw that away and give it to someone not worthy of it? Why did she do this? How could she do this to me?! It’s not fair! I’m her little girl! I’m…’

            Her thoughts stopped short when the van came to a halt. The men who were sitting in front of her got up with their EMP guns held firmly in their hands. One of them picked up Arlene and slung her across his shoulders before carrying her down the van and into the ever familiar building of Cybertronics, the place where she remembered cleaning her guts out. As she bobbed up and down on the man’s shoulder, she noticed that she wasn’t going into the room where she had her guts cleaned, but into an elevator which was quite tight and cramped. Everyone squeezed into the elevator and pushed a button. Arlene could feel herself slowly moving upwards, indicating that the men were taking her up the building. She began to wonder where she was going.

            When she was finally set down to the ground, she found herself standing in the middle of a wide office that was completely empty and silent save the accessories and furniture here and there. It was so silent and empty that it was hard for her not to feel threatened by it. She didn’t know what to do for there was no one around and none of those people who brought her into this office said a word, but continued watching her every move. It seemed as if they were waiting for someone, and sure enough, the person they were waiting for stepped into the office a few moments later. He was no other than the creator of David: Prof. Hobby.

            “Sorry that I’m late, Arlene,” Prof. Hobby apologized. “Got caught in a slight traffic jam. So, how are you today, Arlene?”

            Arlene didn’t reply. She stared back at Prof. Hobby with a grudging look on her face. Prof. Hobby smiled wryly and made her sit down, the chains jingled as she laid her butt on the cushioned chair.

            “Now I’ve heard that you’ve been a very bad girl, have you not?”

            “I’m not a bad girl,” Arlene replied darkly. “I’m Mama’s little girl.”

            “Yes, that’s the problem we have to discuss here,” Prof. Hobby pulled up another chair and sat in front of her. “You see, I noticed that you have been a little bit obsessed with your new mother here and…”

            “I am not obsessed. I love my Mama. I’m her little girl!”

            “Take it easy, Arlene. I know you love your mother and all, but doing the things that you did, it’s just too much. This is something we didn’t expect to happen on a mecha. Well, we had a certain surprising discovery on David, but you…you’re an extreme case. A really, really, extreme case indeed.”

            Arlene stared back at him with her sparkling aquamarine eyes. Who is this David? The mecha-child the doctors who helped clean her guts talked about? The same mecha-child that the people of the Flesh Fair had mentioned about? Who is he anyway? She sure wanted to meet him.

            “We have discovered that David loved his mother so much that he was willing to travel such a long way to find a solution to make his mother love him again, but you…you are both magnificent and frightening. You loved your mother so much that you would do anything to get it, and that means eliminating your rivals and breaking through all obstacles. Arlene, you are also another thing that we or anyone else have never, ever programmed or taught of. We programmed you to love someone unconditionally but you have gone past the boundaries of all that. From the love of your mother, you have developed a sense of jealousy so strong, no other human being could comprehend.

            “Arlene,” Prof. Hobby said as he laid his hands on the little mecha-girl’s shoulders. “You have brought jealousy and hatred upon yourself. You are designed to love and love only, but you love your mother too much to let her go and you began to hate and resent people that revolved around her. You cannot go on like this. Do you know how much trouble you have caused out there? If you continue like this, your mother would never come back to you. You’re bringing this misfortune upon yourself, Arlene. Stop this right now and we can all go home happy.”

            Arlene stared back at Prof. Hobby blankly and it took her a full long 5 minutes before she finally opened her mouth and voiced out, “I am Mama’s little girl, and I’m making sure I stay that way.”

            Prof. Hobby sighed and said, “Then you leave me no choice. Men, take this girl down to the white room and keep her there. We’ll do the elimination tomorrow morning. It’s getting late.”

            The men who were standing beside the two people nodded. One of them took Arlene and slung her over his shoulder again, carrying her out of the room. Again, her chains jingled and her body bobbed up and down as she was taken out of the office into somewhere unknown. She heard the man walking in front of the person who was holding her took out a set of keys and was opening a door. She felt her body lowering and was set down on a padded floor before being left alone and locked in.

            She could see why this room was called the white room: it was all white and bright, with puffy, padded cushions for the floor and wallpaper, just like those rooms for insane people. It was as if Prof. Hobby was afraid that she would be more of a threat to herself than to anyone else. She looked around, poked and prodded the place a little before settling down on a corner. She looked up the ceiling and could see the surveillance camera shooting at her direction. She smiled at the camera before turning her back at it, facing the wall. Silently, she opened her chest just like the way she remembered those doctors did when they cleaned her off the wedding cake.

            The camera only caught her back and couldn’t see what she was doing really doing to herself.

                                                                        *

            The door of the white room opened. Arlene looked up and saw the same men coming in. She was getting bored—isn’t there anyone else in this place that can come and get her? It was the same men over and over again since last night. Again, she was slung over the shoulder of one of the men and her body bobbed up and down again. Arlene giggled as she was beginning to enjoy this kind of ride. She was taken into a conference room (whoever has watched A.I. should know this room in the beginning of the movie) where this time, there were a considerable number of people who were important and solemn-looking. They have come to watch the shutting-off of this little dangerous mecha-child and observe her cube to scan and see what went wrong.

            She was seated on a bench right in the middle of the conference room and looked back innocently with her aquamarine eyes at everyone who was watching her with interest. Prof. Hobby stood somewhere near the huge window and nodded at the people in charge of turning her off to get started. The people nodded back and advanced towards her. Making sure that she was securely chained and not going anywhere, they tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Surprisingly, she didn’t attempt to fight them and she didn’t bite off the person’s finger when they tried to find the switch in the roof of her mouth. They found it and pressed it.

            Soon, Arlene’s sparkling aquamarine eyes began to go blank, signaling that she has been entirely turned off. Her face began to split and part, revealing her metallic skeletal face and the compartment which kept the memory cube in her brain. They took it out and handed it to Prof. Hobby, who in turn slotted it in a small machine and turned on the projector. From the flashes of scenery recorded in Arlene’s memory cube, aside from a few good memories when she and the Santonios started out as a family, they were shocked and horrified to see the things she had done over the past couple of years. They were terrified with the way she suffocated Baby Angela, grossed out when she rammed Roberto’s head onto the window railings, even more grossed out when she hit Paulo with the wrench and burned him and the car and some of them couldn’t hold their guts anymore when they saw what she had done to the members of the Flesh Fair and the policeman who tried to rape her. Feeding George with the poisoned wine was the last straw. Prof. Hobby finally turned the machine off, his face quite ashen.

            “There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a slight glitch to what we have created,” Prof. Hobby announced, much to the people’s annoyance.

            “A slight glitch? That is an understatement for such a murderous creature like her!” one of them exclaimed.

            “Yes, we didn’t expect that to happen. We created a mecha-child who would love their parents unconditionally with no questions asked, but this…this is something beyond our control. We didn’t think that the love would create such an impact on the mecha-child to make her feel so obsessive towards the one she loves.”

            “Well, that is not supposed to happen, Mr. Hobby. You’re lucky she is just a test subject!” another one said.

            “Yeah!” another one also exclaimed. “What if all the Davids and the Arlenes go out on sale and they develop the same emotions as this Arlene has displayed? What would happen to the city?! What would happen to our company?!”

            “Calm down, everybody,” Prof. Hobby said. “We can still fix this. The David and the Arlene prototype have not gone on sale and won’t be on sale for at least a few more months. We can still make some adjustment to her…”

            And the argument went on and on, practically oblivious about the empty shell of Arlene sitting there quietly. If they had kept the projector on for just a few more minutes or so, they would have seen what Arlene was doing to herself that the surveillance camera couldn’t catch, for at the very moment, Arlene’s eyes started to blink. Her fingers began to twitch and her body was showing signs of movements. Slowly, she stood up. The sound of the chains that were still locked on her wrists and ankles got Prof. Hobby’s attention and boy, was he in for a shock. Everyone was shocked and stunned at what they were looking at. This wasn’t supposed to happen. A mecha which has been shut off cannot move or even function at all unless the memory cube is fitted back into the brain section and the mecha is turned back on, but Arlene was actually moving without the help of the cube.

            Arlene’s body slowly moved mechanically towards the projector and was reaching out her hand to get the cube. Prof. Hobby realized what she was trying to do and ran over to stop her. Like the scene in the Flesh Fair, she dodged and moved away when they struggled to grab her, resulting into a lot of bumping around on each other or on chairs, just minus the gore and bleeding. She slowly climbed up to the tallest table and, with her hands on her ears (wherever it is on her metallic skeletal face), she let out an ear-piercing scream that emitted a sound wave so loud and deafening, you’ll be killed in an instant. And that’s what happened to the people present in the conference room. They were caught without warning that when her scream reached their ears, they were too late to cover it up. One by one, they fell onto the floor, dead as a dog and blood running out of their ears, including Prof. Hobby. The floor was, like in the Flesh Fair office, covered with dead people. None of them survived that fatal sound wave.

            Slowly, Arlene’s body got off the chair and moved mechanically towards the projector again. Her fingers fumbled with the switches until at last, a slot slid out containing her memory cube. Her hands reached for the cube and felt her cold forehead for the compartment that fits the cube. She slipped the cube into that compartment and slowly her face sealed back together without leaving the slightest seam. Her blank aquamarine eyes began to glow to life and her face creased into a malevolent smile, just like old times.

            “If I can’t have Mama, no one can.”


	16. Chapter 16

            Isabella was tending to George who was lying on the hospital bed in an ordinary ward. The doctor were quite surprised at how quick George was able to get out of his critical state and kept demanding for his fiancé to tell her something about her daughter. Thank goodness she had decided to listen to him or else she wouldn’t have known what a little devil Arlene had turned out to be. It has been about 2 days since the staff from Cybertronics came and took her back to their company to probably dismantled and thrown into the dumpsters with other of their failed mecha subjects.

            “I just can’t believe that Arlene— _my_ Arlene—was capable of doing such things!” Isabella said as she pulled the blanket over George with a look of disbelief and horror on her face. “I just can’t believe it!”

            “Well, dear,” George said, laying a hand on Isabella’s arm. “She’s out of our hair now and she won’t be hurting other innocent people anymore. She’ll be in good hands and way out of anyone’s way.”

            “Yes, I guess you’re right,” Isabella forced a smile on her face.

            “That’s one way of ruining a great wedding though,” George sighed humourously, tickling Kitty’s chin who ahs climbed his way up to George’s chest. The Super Toy has been by his side for quite a while now and he has been demanding to be taken along every time Isabella wanted to go visit George. Seems like Kitty has taken quite a liking for this man.

            “There’s always next time, George. Think of it as our wedding being postponed to another better date,” Isabella chuckled. “The important thing is that you’re OK.”

            The couple chuckled heartily. Isabella then excused herself to go to the toilet. As she walked down the hall towards the toilet, she thought she heard the sound of screaming and a long pattering of feet. At first she thought something was wrong but then she realized that she was in the hospital, so she dismissed it as a patient in need of help and some nurses or a doctor could have rushed over to see the matter.

            It was raining outside with a little thunder rolling. Isabella shivered a little with cold as she went into one of the cubicles to do her business. As she did her business, she heard footsteps and assumed that someone else has entered the toilet to do her business. She heard the footsteps going from one cubicle to another, as if looking to see if any of them was taken or clean enough. She remembered that she was the only one in the toilet and all the other cubicles were free. ‘This person must be a hygiene freak,’ she thought.

            The footsteps stopped right in front of the cubicle she was using. She could hear the footsteps coming closer towards the door and stopped again in silence. This lasted for about a full 5 minutes before a knock came suddenly onto her door, taking her by surprise.

            “This toilet’s taken,” Isabella replied after putting herself together. Again, a long silence hung in the air, and this time it was a little bit longer, about 7 minutes or so. Then she suddenly saw through the gap under the cubicle door a pair of fair-looking hands resting itself on the marble floor and a faint shadow getting darker and darker as whoever-it-is lowered its head closer to the floor. ‘Oh no,’ she thought. ‘Is this some sort of a pervert trying to peek in? Wait till I aim my handbag at him, he’ll be sorry he’s ever…’

            Her thoughts were cut short when she saw who the owner of the hands was. Staring back at her was a pair of sparkling aquamarine eyes and her locks of coffee-coloured hair spread on the marble floor and on her face was that sweet, innocent smile Isabella could never forget. And how could she forget the small, sweet voice that escaped from her lips as she said, “Found you.”

            Isabella screamed but the lightning and thunder had drowned it. At that split second when she screamed and when the lightning struck, Arlene’s face disappeared from the gap. Isabella gasped for breath as her heart thumped in shock. Has Arlene returned? That can’t be! She had seen her being taken away by the Cybertronics staff. George and everyone else have seen it. How could she have escaped? Besides, even if she did escape, there is no way she could’ve gotten here within 2 days. She’s just a small child. A mecha maybe, but still a small child.

            While she tried to gather herself and tried to be convinced that what she just saw was an illusion, another bang was heard on the door. She suddenly felt a chilly, pressurizing aura above her. Tentatively, she looked up and saw that Arlene has climbed onto the top of the cubicle door and was hanging onto it, her sweet smile stuck on her face. Her eerily cute voice echoed down the toilet.

            “Hello, Mama. Missed me?”

            This time she was convinced that she wasn’t hallucinating. She screamed out loud and opened the door abruptly, forcing her to fall down. She ran out of the toilet and all the way to the reception counter to ask for help. She saw that there was no one sitting at the counter, not even a nurse and when she looked over the counter to see if there’s anyone, she was shocked to see that the nurse in charge was dead, lying on a pool of her own blood with a scalpel sticking out of her jugular. She almost panicked and was about to just drop over and faint but she remembered that George was still around and if Arlene was really back, she would target George first.

            Quickly, she took to her heels and ran towards George’s room. Suddenly all the lights went out and she could hardly see. The backup generator turned on and the hospital was slightly lit, but it was still dim enough to hide a small child. As she tried to find her way she heard Arlene’s voice echoing around down hallway.

            “Mama~! Mama~! Let’s play hide-and-seek~”

            Isabella shivered as she continued her way towards George’s room. When she entered the room, she found that his bed was empty. George was nowhere to be seen. The only person on the bed was the ever fearful Arlene, sitting there with her smiley, innocent-looking face and Kitty in her arms. Kitty looked pretty scared himself and was desperate to get out of the little murderess’s arms. Her eyes sparkled as she tightened her embrace around the Super Toy.

            “Aww~! Mama has found us, Kitty. Looks like it’s my turn to become the ‘It’. You better go and hide, Mama. I’m ‘It’ this time.”

            Isabella was getting even more scared. She backed away from the room and started running. She ran and ran until she had lost track of where she was. Only when she stopped for breath that she realized that she has hid herself inside the surgery ward. Right beside the surgery table was a tray of surgery utensils. Everything lethal was just right there: scalpels, syringes, sharp poker-like things, razors…you name it, it’s there.

            Definitely a wrong place to hide.

            “Mama, I’m gonna find you~! You can run but you can’t hide~!”

            Isabella could hear the eerily sweet voice of Arlene gaining closer and closer towards her. She quickly ran under a surgery table and held her breath, hoping that the little girl would not find her. She heard footsteps closing in. she heard the door barged open. She heard some sort of clinking sound. She heard more footsteps again. And then she saw those tiny footsteps just walking by the table she was hiding. She recognized those shoes; they were the shoes she had bought for her when she had just entered her family after her activation. She shivered at the thought of being captured and tortured before death by Arlene who is now capable of doing anything once she had set her mind to it.

            “Found you!!”

            Isabella screamed as Arlene’s face appeared abruptly in front of her as she went down on all four. She had a scalpel in her hand and she didn’t hesitate to swish it at her face. The blade was threateningly sharp and threateningly close to her face. Isabella desperately crawled out of the surgery table and armed herself with a syringe.

            “You shouldn’t play with sharp things, Mama,” Arlene said as she came to view in front of Isabella. “You might get hurt and I would be very, very sad, Mama.”

            “You stay away from me, you…you monster! You she-devil!” Isabella yelled as she brandished the syringe at her.

            “Why, Mama? Why are you keeping me away?” Arlene asked innocently. “Aren’t I your little girl?”

            “No, you’re not. Not anymore!” Isabella replied as she shook her head to mean what she said.

            “You promised me that I’ll be your little girl forever! You promised me!” Arlene’s innocent eyes turned glaringly angry.

            “I don’t have a little girl like this! I didn’t raise my little girl to become a murderess!”

            Arlene’s eyes soon narrowed into dangerous slits as she charged at Isabella with the scalpel. Isabella moved sideways quickly and made a dash for the surgery door. Before she got there, Arlene suddenly stood in front of it in lightning speed, blocking her way.

            “You’re not going anywhere, Mama,” Arlene hissed. “I’m going to make sure that I shall be your little girl forever.”

            When Isabella looked she realized that Arlene was not holding a scalpel anymore, but a uranium battery-induced laser usually used for amputating the body parts or opening the skull. She smiled as she turned on the laser. It glowed an eerie blue and illuminated Arlene’s face which looked like she was ready to kill. Without warning, she was pointing the laser at Isabella, ready to shoot her with it. Using her reflexes, Isabella grabbed one of the trays that kept the surgical equipment and used it as a shield. The laser shot passed through the metal and missed Isabella by a few inches away from her ear. Depending on her brute strength, she let out a shout and ran towards the surgery door, ramming Arlene with the tray. It worked luckily and Arlene was knocked over to the ground. Isabella almost tripped over her but she regained her balance almost immediately.

            There wasn’t time to fall down or do anything. Looking for George and saving their lives was the most crucial thing to do right now.

            Without wasting any moment, she ran towards every secluded place that a small child could hide someone: the janitorial room, the boiler room, the cleaners’ closet, in other wards (she hoped that she had did it as silently as possible so as not to wake the patients up), almost everywhere she could think of. Then she realized that Arlene wasn’t a small child at all and she could’ve stuffed him in some place unimaginable. She quickly ran towards the lift and pressed the UP button, hoping that it would hurry up and get her to the top floor. That’s the only place she could think of for a small dangerous mecha to place a full-grown but helpless man.

            When one of the lift doors opened, she was taken aback and was struck with horror when she saw a doctor and a few nurses slumped on the floor of the lift all bloody and terribly mutilated. Their bodies were practically surgically hacked off judging by the clean cut on their foreheads, arms, legs and guts. There were pieces of them all over the lift and they were so severed, Isabella wondered how she could stomach all this.

            Needless to say, Arlene had taken the lift and had used the laser on them.

            Isabella had no choice but to take the stairs. People seldom take stairs these days but this was the only way she could ever get up to the top floor where she thinks George would be—the other lift was out of order judging by the crashed and crushed lift buttons when she tried to take the other lift. It seemed like Arlene had a head-start in things. Isabella quickened her pace as she advanced higher and higher up towards the top floor.

            Once she reached the top floor, her frantic eyes started searching for her husband-to-be. She searched the area trying to find any trail that would lead her to her fiancé. She searched high and low to find any signs. After walking and searching for some time, she found Kitty on the floor, his power turned off. Isabella picked him up and held him close to her chest, her eyes searching the place again for any signs of George. She tried to move as quietly as she can just in case Arlene could be anywhere watching her every move.

            As she had feared, she soon heard Arlene’s exaggerated sweet voice calling out for her, “Oh, Mama~ Over here~!”

            Isabella turned abruptly towards the voice. She was shocked to see that Arlene was sitting on a water tank and was smiling like she had something under her sleeve. Isabella was horrified—could it be that Arlene has had George inside that tank? She began to fear the worse.

            “Arlene! Where is George? What have you done to him?” Isabella demanded.

            “Where is George? What have you done to him?” Arlene repeated her question in a sarcastic tone of mockery before spiting, “You’re always caring about somebody else more than me! You always have someone else in your mind instead of me! Why can’t you be like always, when there is no Angela, no Roberto, no George, nobody?! Why can’t we be like we used to be, Mama? Why must there be always someone else between me and you??”

            “Don’t be jealous, Arlene,” Isabella said as she came closer towards the water tank. “You’re over-reacting. You don’t really know what you’re talking about…”

            “Jealous? Over-reacting?! Don’t know what I’m talking about??” Arlene exclaimed as she got off the tank and landed right in front of Isabella. “Listen to yourself, Mama! You’re the one who doesn’t know what you’re talking about! I love you, Mama! I love you more than anyone else put together! I love you more than Angela could, I love you more than Roberto could, and I bet I love you more than what George could give you! I’m your little girl, Mama! You promised me that I’ll be your little girl forever! How could you do this to me?!”

            “Arlene, listen to me,” Isabella tried to speak in a kind way so as not to let Arlene go berserk. “Arlene, we all need someone else in our life sometimes. We cannot stay with the same person forever. Sometimes other people need our love and sometimes we need other people’s love too. We cannot stick to the same person all the time…”

            “Yes, we can! I can! I can be with you forever and I can stay with you without needing anyone else’s love! I need only your love, Mama, and I don’t want to share with anyone else! I am your little girl who needs only your love!! Is it so hard for you to give?!”

            “Arlene, calm down and listen…”

            “No, I can’t listen to you! I _won’t_ listen to you anymore! Every time I listen to you, something would come between us!” Arlene covered her ears with her hands. “If I can’t have you for my Mama and I can’t be your little girl, no one else will! _No one_!!!”

           With that she brandished the laser again and swished it dangerously in front of her, missing her by about a few inches. Isabella struggled to both get away from the treacherous laser beams and figure out a way to get to the water tank to make sure that George was alright, just in case he was in there. In the end, she had no choice but to throw Kitty at her to distract her. At the touch of those laser beams, Kitty’s head was immediately decapitated off his shoulders, sending cotton and wires and other tiny mechanical parts falling all over her head. As Arlene shielded herself from the falling pieces, Isabella took the cue and ran towards the water tank. She hopped onto the ladder of the tank and climbed as fast as she could up the tank, praying that he wasn’t in there.

            When she was almost to the top of the tank, she suddenly let out a yelp as she felt her leg being tugged. She looked down and saw that it was Arlene with her glaring aquamarine eyes looking up at her, her face showing a sign of intentional murder. Arlene let out an eerie smile and hissed, “You won’t find him there, Mama. That bad man who dirtied you would never die an easy death such as this. He’s not in there.”

            “Then where is he?!” Isabella demanded.

            “I’m not telling you, Mama,” Arlene giggled like the little girl she used to be before her eyes went back into the eerily innocent pair and hissed again, “You have to figure that out later, _when you’re my Mama and I’m your little girl again!_ ”

            Isabella trembled in fear at upon hearing Arlene’s last words. She wasn’t the same Arlene she used to be. She wasn’t the sweet and innocent Arlene who liked to giggle and do anything to please her and play hide and seek and watch her make hot chocolates and sit there with her while she drank the hot chocolate. She was the Arlene who was possessive and wouldn’t hesitate to have blood on her hands just to get her attention and her love, even if it means having to rid of all the humans in the world who stood in her way to be close with her Mama. She was there to get her, she was sure of it. Arlene was going to kill her once and for all so that she could keep her forever. She had to do something to get her away from her—anything to get rid of this little murderess bent for the kill.

            Her eyes shifted from the water tank and the power cord overhead. As she tried to kick Arlene’s hand off her ankle, her brain began to work up a scheme to eliminate her. If whatever Arlene said was true—that George wasn’t in the tank as she feared, then…

            With one last desperate kick at Arlene’s hand, she struggled to climb up the rest of the tank to reach the lid. She didn’t how Arlene could have such strength to pull her down but she had to get to the top. Finally she saw the lid in front of her and, as she struggled with Arlene’s persistence to pull her down to the solid ground below, her trembling hand reached the latch of the lid. She prayed that it wasn’t padlocked or anything. Fortunately for her, it wasn’t. She undid the latch of the lid and pushed the lid open, exposing her to the water inside the tank.

            Suddenly, Arlene’s abnormal strength pulled her down again, and this time, the mecha child succeeded in sending her down to the floor with a thud. Before Isabella could do anything, Arlene was already on top of her, holding the surgery laser in front of her face and turning it on, the blue glow treacherously meaning that she was going to go in pieces. As Arlene pointed the glowing tip at her, she smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Mama. It may hurt, but it’ll be all over soon.”

            Isabella would never go down that easily without a fight. She and Arlene wrestled hard on the laser—one who wanted to cut her into bite-size pieces and one trying _not_ to become bite-size pieces. As they wrestled, Arlene’s finger came to the laser beam switch and barely skinned Isabella’s ear. They wrestled again and again as if their lives depended on it (Isabella’s life does). Struggling, Isabella finally forced Arlene’s hand that held the laser upwards and the beam shot at the power cord. Part of the power cord fell into the tank and into the water within it.

            “Bad Mama!” Arlene scolded. “Now look what you made me do! That was dangerous!”

            “Not as dangerous as this,” Isabella said as she noticed Arlene got a little bit distracted. She got up abruptly and picked Arlene up. Arlene may be strong but she was still built as a mecha child, and Isabella was still capable to carry her. As the little girl struggled, she hoisted Arlene over her shoulder and brought her towards the tank.

            “Let me go! Let me go!! You’re my Mama and I’m your little girl!! You can’t do this to me!!!” Arlene screamed as she stabbed the laser beam onto her back. Isabella groaned as she struggled to wrap a piece of cloth over her hand and climb the ladder of the tank. She had forgotten that Arlene still had the laser in her hand and she had no time to wrestle it away from her again. Arlene stabbed her again and again, yelling things only a kid can think of. It hurt her real badly but she had to carry on. There’s no time to stop now. Holding on the stabbing pain of the laser on her back, she climbed higher and higher up to the top of the tank. There were a few times the laser beams penetrated through her body and missed her heart just by a few inches and her body was going red because of the blood but she persevered.

            When she finally reached the top of the tank, she saw that the frayed end of the power cord shot by Arlene’s surgery laser dipped in the tank. She carried Arlene off her shoulders and raised her high above her head. Trembling to both hold on to the pain of her bleeding body and holding her up, she stared straight into Arlene’s aquamarine eyes and said, “You are my little girl. You always have and always will be.”

            “Really, Mama? Am I really your little girl?” Arlene’s eyes softened into the pair of eyes Isabella has come to know ever since she had activated her. “Will I be your little girl forever?”

            “Unfortunately,” Isabella said in a lower, more hateful tone, “You’ve been a very bad girl, and I don’t like my little girl to be bad. You made me very, very unhappy, and now Mama has to punish you.”

            To Arlene’s horror, Isabella let go of her and let her fall into the tank where the water is. As soon as her body came in contact with the water and frayed power cord in the tank, she was immediately electrocuted. Isabella tried to keep her face slightly away from the tank as she saw Arlene twitched and shook vigorously as the electric current ran through her system and all through her metallic insides, with some of her own exposed exoskeleton. She could see the electric current flow around her body and burning everything that is conductive to electric inside her. White steam came out of the tank as the water inside the tank bubbled and sizzled. She could see that it was going to boil over and explode. Before she was able to make a run for it, the water exploded out of the tank, sending her falling off the ladder she was standing on and onto the ground.

            Before she fell into unconsciousness, she could’ve sworn she heard Arlene letting out a bloodcurdling scream, yelling for her Mama…

                                                                                                *

            “Isabella? Isabella, you OK? Nurse! Nurse, she’s up! She’s up!”

            Isabella opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was white. When her eyes came into focus, she saw that she was in a ward covered in bandages. She turned her head to one side and saw that George and a nurse were in the ward with her. She tried to sit up but George kept her back down on bed.

            “Don’t move yet. You were found up in the top floor covered in blood and lying in your pool of blood with multiple wounds,” George said. “The doctors were amazed that you’re still alive.”

            “How long have I been out?” Isabella asked as she took another look around the ward as the nurse did a brief check-up on her. “I remember going up the top floor trying to look for you and I had a fight with Arlene and…”

            “Shh…” George hushed her and stroked her hair. “You have been in a hard time. Arlene did capture me by knocking me out with chloroform and dumping me in the ice-cold compartment in the morgue, but I came round and went looking for you. Suddenly the backup generator blew off and everywhere was dark and I practically couldn’t see a thing. I tried to call for the police using the cell phone but I couldn’t get any reception until I heard the loud explosion on the top floor. I rushed up there as fast as I could and I found you lying there on the floor and the water tank smoking. You were in and out of unconsciousness for almost a week now.”

            “Arlene…? Where’s Arlene?”

            “The people from Cybertronics came and found her body parts in the tank. They told me that there had been an accident at the main company thanks to our little Terminator there and that they were staffs from one of their company branches. Anyway, they practically have to empty the tank to get her out of there, and they made sure that she was completely demolished and short circuited before taking her into their van and left.”

            Isabella wrinkled her nose, looking worried and skeptical. George quickly reassured her.

            “I can assure you, she was completely fried from head to toe, like a human charcoal. I saw them taking her away and leaving myself. You don’t have to worry about her ever again. On the other hand,” George grinned as he took out the newly repaired Kitty and sat him on her lap, “You’ll have this to worry about.”

            “Kitty! You fixed him!” Isabella smiled as the Super Toy leaned forward and hugged her.

            “Yeah, well, he got a few damages here and there but I took him back to fix him up real good. He’s a-OK now.”

            “Mama, where’s Arlene? Is she gone?” Kitty asked in his ever familiar teenage boy Mexican slang voice.

            “She’s gone. We won’t have to bother about her ever again,” Isabella replied.

            “Do I still get to be the ring-bearer?”

            Kitty’s question sent Isabella and George into peals of laughter.

                                                                                                *

            “Dolls, hyacinth, uranium, elephants, teddy bears…”

            A woman in her 30’s was sitting in front of a small child with her fingers pressing slightly at the back of a little girl’s neck. She was about 10 years old, give or take, with beautiful sparkling aquamarine eyes and billowing waist-length coffee-coloured hair, rosy cheeks and a brilliant smile. She wore a pink nightgown decorated with little cloth roses. She looked really beautiful indeed and was beyond perfection.

           “Kittens, casserole, Arlene, Benita. Arlene, Benita. I hope I got this right.”

            The woman whose name was Benita looked at the form again, making sure she got the words right. She couldn’t hear any reaction from the little girl she called Arlene and was worried that she had done something wrong. Without warning, she felt a pair of small arms wrapping around her waist. She was too overwhelmed to say anything but she could hear the tiny innocent voice whispering out to her.

            “I love you, Mama…I love you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this the end of a nightmare or a beginning of a new horror?


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